Tales to Astonish
by Metylizer
Summary: When a young dragon wakes up in the Dragon Temple with no memory, Fate decides that this young dragon has potential, and choses him as a possible candidate for adventure. Meanwhile, in a nuclear-devastated San Francisco, a man finds a dragon from another realm. (Full summary inside) (Rated M for language, depictions of violence, and mild self-harm) (On Hiatus)
1. Awakening

**Guess who school's killing? If you guess me, then you are absolutely right! Congrats! I don't even know where I found the time to begin something like this, much less turn it into something reminiscent to a story, or at least a story structure. But, I did. Somehow... If you are (for some reason) wondering "Did he abandon Seventh Son," then I will reitetate; I am not, I repeat, _NOT_ , abandoning that story. If you can't tell, it says "on hiatus," and it says that for a reason; to be honest, I may not even _find_ time to write anything more until summer rolls around, so that means it might be a damn long time before I find the time to write. But, if you want, I can try to continue this story. If so, RR so that I know people are not only reading, but like it. Well, I think that's enough of me rambling on, what do you think? Anyways, onward!**

 _Summary_

When a young dragon wakes up in the Dragon Temple with no memory, Fate decides that this young dragon has potential, and choses him as a possible candidate for adventure. Meanwhile, in a nuclear-devastated San Francisco, a man finds a dragon from another realm. What is their connection? Can they find the answer before it is too late? Before war ravages the world once again?

 _M_

The first he heard after coming to his senses was chattering of some kind; he didn't know who, he didn't know what, and he didn't know where. All he knew was that he was a white dragon. Well… mostly white; his wing arms were red in color, as were his spear-like tail blade, horns, eyes, and the fins running down his back.

"Ugh… what the…?"

"Pyra, come quick! He's rousing!" shouted a voice, making him wince.

Pyra… that name sounds… familiar for some reason. But why? Who exactly was he, and why was he here? Wherever "here" was, anyways….

"I'm coming, Cyril!"

Cyril… yet another name that sounded familiar, yet he knew not how or why, or even who this "Cyril" was.

He opened his eyes to see two looming dragons above him; one was red like his own horns, and the other was an icy blue. He knew who they were, he just… didn't; he knew their names, but he didn't know who was who, who they were exactly, or just what they had done. All he knew was that they carried an air of authority.

"What…? Who…? Where…?" he tried, but he found the words to come slowly to his maw, and the gaps in his memory didn't help to stop the room from spinning as he tried to stand up.

"Easy, young one; quite the injury you have there," said the red one.

"Who… who are you…?" he asked weakly.

"I am Pyra, Guardian of Fire, and this is Cyril, Guardian of Ice," said the red one.

"Pleasured to meet your acquaintance," Cyril muttered sarcastically.

"Oh hush, Cyril," Pyra chided.

He didn't know why, but he found their childish bickering quite amusing, and he let out a small, childlike giggle.

"Yes yes, laugh it up," Cyril groused.

"Don't mind him, young one," Pyra said. "He's been a bit of a grouch since he was captured by those apes."

"They outnumbered us!" Cyril protested.

"Anyways, what is your name, young one?"

"I'm…." He hesitated; he didn't even know his own name, so he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I'm… Lumiere."

How the hell did he just come up with that word? What did that word even mean? What language was that that he just spoke? Did he somehow just make it up? It would explain how he just came up with that word on the spot.

"Lumiere…" Pyra echoed, as if testing the name on her tongue. "What a… peculiar name…."

"Yes, indeed; what language is that?" Cyril asked.

"It's my name; I'm not sure what language it is," Lumiere replied.

Technically he wasn't lying; it was now his name, and he had no idea what language he just conjured up out of the blue. Wait… how did he know that saying?

"Well… Lumiere… welcome to the Dragon Temple," Pyra said at last, distracting Lumiere from his thoughts.

"Thank you, Pyra," Lumiere responded, feeling a little more comfortable.

"I'm not quite sure I understand," Cyril stated. "I was under the assumption that all eggs except for Cynder's were destroyed by apes when they raided the Temple. If that is the case… then how are you here?"

"I'm… not sure…" Lumiere replied.

He didn't know anything besides his scale color; hell, he had to come up with an impromptu name, his mind was so blank! But if that's the case, then how did he come up with the name? There were so many questions that these two would no doubt ask, but all these questions he himself had. There were too many questions, and too few answers; no answers, in fact.

Pyra hummed in thought before saying, "Then let us guide you to the Pool of Visions; we will find our answer there."

Lumiere nodded and followed the two larger dragons down a long corridor, which eventually opened up into a large room with a pool in the middle, no doubt the Pool of Visions. He looked up at Pyra, who responded with a nod and a little nudge into the room. He walked forward, albeit slowly and cautiously, to the Pool of Visions and stopped at its edge. He looked in, only to see his reflection staring right back at him.

"Young one," Pyra suddenly said, making Lumiere nearly jump out of his scales, "if you'll be so kind as to back up a bit…."

"Oh, sorry," Lumiere apologized sheepishly.

"Pyra," greeted a third voice, which was deeper than the rest of them.

"Ah, Terrador," Pyra responded. "Is Spyro back yet?"

"No, Pyra… he is not."

Pyra seemed to deflate at this statement; whoever this Spyro character was must've meant a lot to the female Guardian.

"I see… we can only hope that he survives the battle against the rest of the Dark Master's forces…."

"Who's the Dark Master?" Lumiere blurted out.

All three Guardians turned to him, and he shrunk under all their powerful gazes. So full of authority….

"Who is he?" Terrador asked Pyra, turning back to the red Guardian.

"He's a dragon whom we found lying unconscious outside the Temple walls," Pyra answered. "Lumiere, surely you've heard of the Dark Master by now; hasn't your mother ever told you stories?"

"I… don't remember my mother…" Lumiere replied sadly.

"Oh, poor thing; must have amnesia," Pyra said.

"Oh, you tell me to 'shake it off' when it get buried by a landslide, yet you call this stranger 'poor thing?' I'm offended by your words, Pyra," Cyril butted in.

"Yes, but you were already one hundred years old. And for the record, it was hardly a mudslide," Pyra retorted.

"You complain too much, Cyril," Terrador added.

Cyril harrumphed and puffed out his chest. Just then, another dragon came into the room; a yellow dragon with navy blue horns.

"Hello, sorry I'm late," he said ecstatically. "What are you all conversing about?"

"Volteer, we were just -" began Pyra.

"Ah! Who is this?" Volteer asked excitedly. "Another dragon, a white one no less! This is marvelous, stupendous, incredi- mmph, mmph!"

"Can you stop yapping for five second?" Cyril asked shaking his head, grabbing Volteer's maw and holding it shut.

When he let it go, Volteer rubbed his jaw and accusingly stated, "You know, someone of your stature should surely be a lot more polite, especially in front of company." He then bent down to get a better look at Lumiere and asked, "And who might you be, young dragon?"

"I-I'm Lumiere," he replied, a little nervous around the babbling Guardian; he never liked people who talked. Wait… how did he know that?

"Oh, young dragon, there's no need to be shy; you'll see this temple has much to offer, including me, Volteer, Guardian of Lightning, the greatest of them all!"

"Is that why you were captured by apes?" Terrador shot back.

Volteer flustered as he tried to keep up his reputation and said, "L-last time I checked, you were captured as well!"

"Yes, but at least I wasn't brought down by a couple of apes."

"I…" Volteer started, but was cut off by Pyra.

"Thank you, Volteer, but that is enough; we've done more bickering than necessary in front of the youngling."

"Are you sure? We've done more bickering in front of Spyro…" Cyril reminded the dragon.

"Something I very much regret," Pyra replied.

Cyril only gave an indignant huff and shook his head; Lumiere could tell the Ice Guardian wanted to make some witty retort, but he held his peace for the time being. Lumiere took the time to look at Pyra questioningly, and the old Guardian motioned to a pillow on the other side of the Pool of Visions.

"Oh, we're going to be looking at your memories!" Volteer exclaimed energetically.

Truth be told, Lumiere was scared; he didn't know what he would see, or if he would see anything at all, in which case questions would be risen that he couldn't even begin to answer. He was scared, but at the same time curious. You know what they say; "curiosity killed the cat." Yeah, he might be going crazy; between the random words popping into his mind and the weird sayings that he didn't understand, he felt as if he would go absolutely insane.

"Go on, young one," Pyra urged the youngling.

Lumiere took tentative steps toward the pillow, and he felt the Guardians' gazes burning into the back of his head as he made his way to the other side of the Pool. When he finally got there, he nervously lied down and looked at Pyra for advice.

"Roll over, young one," Pyra instructed.

Lumiere didn't know why, but a light blush came to his face as he rolled over and exposed his underside to the ceiling and leaned his head back so that the tips his red horns barely touched the water.

"Now close your eyes and empty your thoughts."

Lumiere did as he was instructed and tried to relax, barely ignoring the fact that he was "exposed" to three adult, male dragons and an adult female dragon. Eventually, however, he did come to a state of subconsciousness; he was aware of the four Guardians peering over the water's edge to peek at his memories, yet he didn't even register their presence beside him. He just hoped that nothing embarrassing came up. He kept his eyes close and his mind empty, waiting patiently for something to happen… yet nothing happened; no images conjured up in his mind, no memories resurfaced, and he was left with more questions than answers. Just as he was about to give up, however, a powerful image surged forth; it was… disturbing to say the least.

 _M_

The once heavily-populated city of San Francisco lay in complete ruins, decimated by the atomic fire that had lay the city to waste, turning it into a radiation-filled, hellish landscape that not even the most daring and brave dared venture out onto, for there was nothing here. Nothing was left; the skyscrapers looked as if they were about to fall down, and many of the smaller buildings were falling, crumbling to nothing more than a pile of dust and debris in a matter of seconds. Yet, on the rocks, overlooking the city, there stood a man. One man. One well-toned, tanned, dirty-blonde, blue-eyed man; Kirk Casey.

He would've never guessed in a million years that he would be able to survive a nuclear fallout, yet here he stood, his black gas mask in one hand and a revolver in the other as he prepared to salvage what he could from the city.

"Well, guess I better get going," he said to himself.

He put on his gas mask and tightened the strap so that nothing but pure oxygen was sure to get in his lungs, holding up his revolver and turning the safety off with a _click!_ before jumping down and walking towards his newly acquired ATV. Emphasis on "newly." There was a body that lay to the side with a bullet hole right between his eyes, which were both wide with fear, as was his mouth.

Kirk turned the key in the ignition and proceeded to leave behind the body, as well as the safety of the Outlands, as they were called, and headed into the radiation-infested city that used to be San Francisco. The ATV's engine echoed loudly across the devastated landscape before the ATV disappeared from the sight of a couple Outland bystanders, who quickly went about their business, shaking their heads, thinking that man was heading straight to his death. After all, those who went into the City… never came back out.

But such was not the case for 28-year-old Kirk Casey, who rode into the city with determination to find something, _anything_ , that could help his "pack" survive just one more day. The heat of the atmosphere made him sweat profusely, but he kept going, knowing that if he were to take off anything, he would no doubt get radiation sickness, and that was _not_ something he wanted to deal with; he'd seen what radiation sickness could do to people, and he wasn't about to deal with cracking skin, dehydration, deformation/mutation, or any of the other side effects that radiation sickness caused. But he knew that if he were to pass out, he would become prey to whatever predators lurked in the shadow of night. Though he had never seen a Predator up close, he had heard stories of the mutated people, all of which made him want to piss his pants. But here he was, insanely heading straight into the danger where he would be vulnerable to not only Predators, but Dragonflies, Deformities, Limpers, and even Zombies as the mutilated, walking "corpses" were named.

He knew _someone_ had to do it, though, so he volunteered so he and his pack wouldn't be waiting around while they starved.

The sunlight streamed through to the streets he rode on due to the damaged skyscrapers than towered over him and creaked, as if ready to give out at any moment. But he kept on riding anyways; he had gotten a tip from a reliable outside source on where to find some good food in the City; even if no one came back out, that didn't mean _nothing_ came back out, especially rumors.

Currently, he was heading to the center of the city, where all the mutated beasts usually lurked at night; he would have to be in and out, and quickly, as he could see the Sun rapidly setting over the horizon, so that he wouldn't get mutilated and eaten alive or, worse, turned _into_ one of those mindless beasts.

He noisily rode towards the center of the city when a feral-sounding growl emitted from one of the alleyways, followed by a feminine scream of pure terror. Kirk knew that the girl was fucked from how close the two noises were together, but he stopped in his tracks, the engine rumbling as he stood idly in the street, debating on whether to go help the girl or continue with his previous mission; he only had time to do one, as he could see the Sun was already halfway below the horizon from the breaks in between buildings.

"Dammit…" he muttered as he revved up his ATV and sped off to where he heard the screams.

He sped down the alleyway in record time, wanting to at least get there before the beast ate any of the girl's remains so she could have a proper funeral. But his thoughts were interrupted by a scream coming from inside a building to his right. He quickly stopped the ATV and hopped off, taking his revolver and running into the building. The room he had entered was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything but a few blood stains on the ground, leading to where he heard another scream, until he was knock to his side by something.

Kirk didn't even look twice before firing his revolver

 _M_

 **Like I said before, RR if you want this to become a story. If not, then... your loss. Also, I have a beginning part if you want me to upload that as well. Hope you enjoyed this, and have a good day/night!**


	2. Home

**So, just because, I decided to continue this story; a lot more things are coming to me now, and I had actually just thought this whole story through to the end. Well, end _s_. Anyways, hope you like this chapter, and don't forget to RR.**

 _M_

Lumiere jolted awake with a yell as he regained full consciousness, and the vision faded away… but that scream will be forever etched in his mind. Did he really come from such a hellish place? How the hell did he get here in the first place? What caused that to happen? Will that happen in this world?

This vision has left him with more questions than answers….

"Did you… did you really come from _that_?" Terrador asked in disbelief, making Lumiere focus back on the four elder dragons.

"I… don't know…" he answered honestly.

"How could you not know?" Cyril asked.

"That guy in the vision… I don't think it was me…" Lumiere responded.

Everyone in the room sat quietly for a moment, so Lumiere jumped about a foot in the air when then Guardians suddenly started bombarding him with questions, none of which he heard since they were coming at him at a million miles an hour, five hundred at a time. Especially Volteer's….

Just then, a voice rang out, more specifically Pyra's, saying, "Spyro's back!"

"How do you know?" Cyril asked.

"I'm… not sure, I just know that -"

"Hey, guys," called a new, tired voice.

They all turned to see a purple dragon carrying a black dragoness on his back, both of whom were accompanied by a dragonfly. Lumiere's jaw dropped at the state of both of them, and he immediately ran forward to help.

"Hey, take it easy, man," he said, putting the purple dragon's left arm over his back and supporting the weight of both the purple dragon on the dragoness on his back. Lumiere nearly buckled under the weight, but he managed to carry them to the center of the room, where the black dragoness started to groan.

"What happened to you two? The name's Lumiere by the way," he said.

"Well, I'm Spyro, and this is Cynder," the purple dragon said, gesturing to the black dragoness, who was slowly rousing.

"Spy… Spyro… wha…?" she managed, but stopped when Spyro rushed over to her side and whispered comforting things to her.

 _'Judging by that, I'd say they're… together,'_ Lumiere thought.

 _'Trust me, kid; they are "together,"'_ said a voice in his head, making Lumiere's eyes go wide as he looked at the Guardians, who were all busy comforting Spyro and Cynder and not at all paying him any mind.

 _'Who are you?'_ he asked the voice.

 _'Really? You really don't know? Judging by your vision, you know exactly who I am.'_

Lumiere furrowed his brow before his eyes once again went wide, but this time with understanding.

 _'The man from my vision….'_

The man chuckled in his head and said, _'Where I was from, people called me Kirk.'_

 _'Gotcha…'_ Lumiere responded. _'So who am I?'_

 _'Straight to the point, eh, kid?'_

 _'Sorry, I'm just curious,'_ Lumiere apologized.

Kirk chuckled and replied with, _'Don't be; you've got every right to ask questions. Unfortunately, some of them can't be answered yet. I'm not exactly with you in the flesh, so I can't bring back your memories from scratch. But I_ can _still help you in different ways.'_

Lumiere smiled and said, _'Thanks.'_

 _'Not a problem, kid. I'll be seeing you around; gotta go for now.'_

And with that, Lumiere was left with his own thoughts, Kirk leaving the youngling's mind for the time being while the injured Spyro and Cynder were finally given red crystals. When that was all done with, they all turned to Lumiere with curious expression, and he shifted uncomfortably from all the eyes boring into his own.

"I didn't think white dragons existed…" Spyro whispered with wonder. "I thought only the Chronicler was white in color…."

"Yet here is one," Pyra whispered gently.

The others only nodded in agreement.

"Well, back to my original question…" Volteer began.

 _'Which one?'_ Lumiere muttered in his head.

"… what do you mean you don't know if that was you in the vision? The very idea is absurd, insane, outrageous, preposterous, ludacr- mmph!"

"For the love of our Ancestors, will you shut the hell up?!" Cyril complained.

Volteer mumbled something along the lines of "Fine!" before Cyril let his muzzle go, and he glared at the icy-blue Guardian, who just smile triumphantly back.

"Males…" Lumiere heard Pyra chuckle under her breath.

"Hey!" he cried, as he just so happened to be a male, and he wouldn't even think of doing half the things the Guardians were doing.

"Oops… just pretend you didn't hear that," Pyra whispered to him.

Lumiere sighed but nodded. Pyra, satisfied, smiled and leaned back to face the now-bickering Guardians. She sighed heavily and shook her head, tempted to repeat her last statement. However, seeing as how Lumiere had more sensitive ears than she thought, she held her tongue and looked back to Lumiere with a more motherly smile. Lumiere couldn't help but smile back.

Eventually, though, the moment was ruined by Terrador yelling, "Just ask him the damn question!"

"Alright, I will!" Cyril shouted back. He then took a deep sigh and asked, "I'm assuming you don't have anywhere to go… am I correct?"

Lumiere nodded sadly as he seemed to physically deflate, leaving everyone in the room feeling sorry for him… including a certain Fire Guardian.

"I can take care of him!" she blurted out, before flushing red and covering her mouth, surprised at her own statement; yes, she had a daughter, though she'd wanted a son for the longest time, but her mate hit the road before they could conceive a second time. Maybe Lumiere could be that son she never had….

Everyone at the room stared at her for a second, and she was secretly glad her scales were red so that they hid her slight blush. After a few second, though, she got over her own surprise and let her paw rest itself back on the floor.

"I mean… I'm the only one with enough room to provide for him," she defended.

Terrador looked around the room to gauge everyone else's reactions, more specifically Lumiere's, though the white male's eyes glowed with happiness, unlike everyone else; everyone else's eyes were filled with pure surprise, as they were surprised that Pyra wanted to even attempt to raise a second child without a mate to help her out.

Pyra turned to Lumiere after doing what Terrador was still doing, and asked, "Would you like that?"

Lumiere was so surprised and happy that only one word could escape his maw; "Yes!" he shouted with happiness and excitement evident in his voice.

Everyone smiled at the heartwarming scene, Volteer even let out a heartfelt, "Aww!" before he was punched lightly in the arm by Cyril, which turned into even more bickering. After a few minutes, everyone was able to settle down, and Spyro and Cynder came up to Lumiere.

"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for what you did earlier; not many people help me with who I used to be…" Cynder said sadly.

"What? Why not?" Lumiere asked, surprised.

"Well… that's something for later," said Spyro. "In the meantime, you might want to watch out for Pyra's daughter, Vyra."

"Why?" Lumiere asked curiously.

"Well… she's in her cycle," Cynder replied with sympathy in her voice.

"Yeah, and you do _not_ want to mess with a female who's in her cycle," Spyro joked, earning a punch in the arm not unlike Volteer a couple minutes earlier.

But Lumiere was still confused. "What's a 'cycle?'" he asked.

"Something you'll learn about when you're older," came Pyra's voice from behind him. He turned to see the Fire Guardian glaring at Spyro and Cynder, who shifted uncomfortably under her burning gaze. "Don't be giving him any ideas, young one's; it's enough having you two at it like rabbits everyday."

Spyro and Cynder blushed and looked at the ground, both stuttering incoherently. "Th-th-that's not tr-true!" Spyro claimed.

"Y-yeah! I-it w-w-was only o-once!" Cynder added.

Pyra lost her glare and smiled at the two flustered dragons at her feet and said, "You know I'm only teasing, young ones." She then turned to Lumiere and asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure," he replied.

"Alright, then… everyone is dismissed for the day," Pyra said to everyone there.

Everyone said their thanks and walked out of the room so they could fly back to their homes, which were now only a few minutes away, thanks to integrating the Dragon Temple into Warfang. Pyra and Lumiere hung back for a few seconds before Pyra smiled and walked in a different direction.

"Wait, isn't that the exit?" he asked, confused.

Pyra only smiled patiently and said, "There is more than one exit; I find this way to bring me home quicker."

Lumiere mentally slapped himself and asked, "Where's your home?"

" _Our_ home now, young one," Pyra chuckled, "and it's coincidentally right down the street."

Lumiere smiled and followed her down a hall, which eventually brought them out to a beautiful sunset that made the city appear as if were glowing.

"Woah…" Lumiere gasped, partially because of the beautiful scenery, but mostly because of the massive city that set it.

Pyra chuckled and said, "Indeed; this city still takes my breath away more often than not."

Lumiere chuckled as well and kept standing there on that ledge for a couple seconds, just taking in the view until Pyra once again spoke up.

"Come on, young one; you'll have plenty of time to stare at the sunset if we hurry. Maybe even stargaze," she said persuasively.

Now that did sound nice…. Lumiere smiled and ran to catch up to Pyra, who was already walking away, but he filed this area away in his mind as a place to clear his mind if need be.

True to her word, Pyra's home was right down the street, so thankfully it wasn't too bad of a walk; her house wasn't too different from the others in Warfang, but it was still a bit larger and nicer than the surrounding houses. When Pyra opened the door, she nudged Lumiere inside first, and his jaw dropped at the inside.

The interior was dimly lit by fancy lights and there were marble counters that separated the kitchen from the living room, the former of which had tiled floors and the latter of which had wooden floors made of possibly oak. The sofa was well-sized and looked extremely expensive because of the material it looked like it was made of. The walls were stone just like the outside, but it was more kept than the outside and gave the inside a more homey feel.

"I see you like it," Pyra observed.

"Yeah… wow…" Lumiere whispered.

"Yes, being a Guardian has its perks," Pyra chuckled as she walked past Lumiere and called, "Vyra, I'm home!"

"Hold on, Mom!" shouted another voice from a staircase that Lumiere just noticed.

After that, Pyra walked into the kitchen and asked, "Would you like a snack?"

"Um… no thanks," Lumiere responded; despite not eating anything, he felt as if he'd just eaten.

"What do you want, Mom?" came a voice from the staircase.

"Come down here, Vyra; I want you to meet someone."

Pyra smiled at Lumiere gently and got to work on making a snack for herself and possibly her daughter, Vyra. Lumiere turned towards the staircase when he heard steps coming down and gasped when he saw the dragoness standing at the bottom.

Her polished scales were a beautiful shade of yellow, and her underbelly was an exquisite shade of darker gold that made her navy-blue horns and tail blade pop out in just the right way. Her claws were all dark blue and her forepaws were a faded red that blended into her forearms. Her eyes were what drew his attention, though; they were both a dazzling shade of purple that had blue and red speckles that made the purple stand out.

"Who's this?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"This is Lumiere; we found him unconscious outside the Temple, and he doesn't remember anything of his past… including his parents. So I agreed to care for him for the time being."

"Why?" Vyra asked.

"Because he doesn't have anyone else; he doesn't remember anything before today. Snack?"

"No thanks. But didn't you think you should've asked for my input?"

"I'm sorry I didn't, but I didn't realize the words were coming out of my mouth until I said them; besides, could you imagine one of the other Guardians taking care of a child?"

Vyra scoffed and looked at Lumiere, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He couldn't at all read her, so when she started to walk towards him, he shrunk down and made himself look smaller.

She got right up in his face and growled, "You listen here; you leave me alone, and we're good. You don't speak to me, you don't look at me, you don't even breathe in my direction. Got it?"

"Vyra!" her mother scolded.

Vyra scoffed again and backed off, this time turning her back and walking back up the stairs and slamming the door to what he presumed was her room; Lumiere didn't know it, but turning one's back to another is a huge insult to pride.

"I'm sorry about her," he mother sighed. "She's not usually like this."

Lumiere only nodded and thought, _'Guess her cycle's getting to her.'_

"Are you sure you don't want a snack?" Pyra asked him.

"No thanks," Lumiere replied, not taking his eyes off the staircase.

"Well, I think I'm going to turn in early. Your room is right next to Vyra's, and the bathroom is right across from your room; if you need anything, just knock on my door. It's right at the end of the hall."

Lumiere turned to her and said, "Thanks… for everything."

"No problem, sweetie," Pyra replied and smiled gently before eating the last of her snack and walking out of the kitchen.

"Goodnight, Lumiere," she said as she walked up and hugged him. Lumiere hugged her back and smiled as he basked in the warmth of her scales.

He stifled a whine when she broke the embrace, but he smiled anyways he followed her upstairs. She sighed tiredly and moved to the end of the hall, leaving Lumiere standing at the end of the hallway that led to everyone's room. He hesitated to move past Vyra's door, but eventually did so with careful steps and stopped in front of his new room, which was the last door on the right side of the hallway. He turned the doorknob and opened the door to a white room with a gray, carpeted floor. The bed, which faced the doorway, had white sheets and a gray comforter, with a white pillow and a black frame.

"Thanks… Mom," he whispered as he moved towards the bed, closing the door with his tail and climbing in bed, resting his head on the pillow and pulling the covers and sheets over his frame. He fell asleep within the minute.

 _M_

The room he had entered was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything but a few blood stains on the ground, leading to where he heard another scream, until he was knocked to his side by something.

Kirk didn't even look twice before firing his revolver.

Kirk head the distinct hiss of pain that could've only come from a Limper, but he didn't look before pulling the hammer back and pulling the trigger again. Another hiss of pain signalled that he had once again hit his mark. He finally looked and saw that he had shot the Limper two times in its shoulder. This Limper's head was bulging and its flesh was already covering its eyes. It's nose was now only two slits and its mouth was replaced by sharp teeth. It was incredibly muscular and completely naked, though the gender couldn't be determined, because Limpers had no gender, their organs having been demolished when they mutated. Its side was also split open, revealing multiple organs, including its blackened, beating heart.

Kirk pulled the hammer back once again and took aim for the creature's exposed heart, which would most definitely kill it. Unfortunately for him, this Limper was smart and recognized what it was doing. It roared and charged at him, knocking him back down once again, making his head hit the floor and his pistol go flying from his hand.

"Ah! You fucker!" he shouted.

The Limper only roared in his face and moved to bite it off when Kirk kicked it off of him. He ran for his pistol, but the Limper grabbed his leg and made his hit his chin on the ground. He groaned and tried to kick the beast what used to be its face, but it was smart and grabbed his other leg before he could do that.

"Damn you straight to Hell!" Kirk shouted and tried to punch it, but it was holding him away at arm's length so he couldn't reach him.

 _'Damn, this one's smarter than the other ones I ran into!'_ Kirk thought.

He growled and reached to his side for his machete that he thankfully picked up the day before from a trader in the Outlands. He unsheathed it and sliced at the exposed heart. The Limper roared and dropped him on his head, making his vision go dark for a second and him drop his machete. Thankfully, though, his pistol was right next to him, so he reached over and grabbed it.

"This is for dropping me on my head, asshole!" Kirk yelled.

The creature roared and attempted to charge him just as Kirk pulled the trigger.

 _M_

 **Yet another Kirk cliffie. Actually, this is the last vision of Kirk for a couple chapters, so you'll have to wait this one out. Ain't I just the worst? Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	3. School (Pt 1)

**Alright, so I have nothing to do for ten days. Why? Because I just had cardiac ablation yesterday and I have to stay out of school for six to seven days, plus I had my fall break this week. So this story may or may not have a couple more updates. Lucky you.**

 _M_

"Ah!" Lumiere yelled as he awoke with a start.

He sat upright, panting with wide eyes and looking around his room, which was now flooded by sunlight. He calmed down enough to lay back down on the bed when he heard a knock at the door.

"Lumiere? Are you alright?" asked Pyra's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine; just a bad dream," he replied.

He sighed and pulled the covers off of himself, crawling out of bed and walking to the desk that was on the other side of the room, right next to the closet door that was to the right of the bed. He ran his hand over the symbol, which was a circle with a diamond and a cross in the middle of it.

He sighed again and made his way out of the room, turning the doorknob and stepping out into the hall and opening the door to the bathroom.

Once inside, he closed the door so that he would have privacy to do his business. After which he did so, he opened the door to find Vyra standing around in the hall, probably waiting for him to get out.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized.

Vyra snapped her gaze on him with a raging fire in her eyes. She grabbed him by the horns and slammed him against the wall, but since said wall was made of stone, no one but them heard it, and it wasn't so strong that it sent vibrations more than ten feet out.

"What did I say about speaking to me?" she hissed.

"U-uh… I-I shouldn't?" he squeaked.

She slapped him and made him stand on his hind legs, after which she kneed him in the crotch, making him nearly cry out in pain, but she held his muzzle shut so nothing but a muffled squeak came from him. Tears pricked his eyes and he struggled against her grip.

"Next time you speak to me, or if you tell anyone about this, this is what will happen to you, except until you say goodbye to Lumi Jr.," she growled.

Lumiere squeaked in fear and pain, but stayed quiet when she let him go and walked into the bathroom with a scowl. He stayed there until he heard the shower on, and even then stood there for a couple more seconds until the pain in his crotch went away, after which he dropped to all fours and walked downstairs, albeit with a slight limp.

When Pyra saw him walking with his new limp, she gasped and asked, "What happened?"

"I think I pulled something when I jumped awake," he lied.

"Oh, do you want something? I think we have red crystals in the bathroom," she suggested.

"Vyra's in the bathroom right now," he replied.

Pyra smiled patiently and said, "We have more than one bathroom."

Lumiere mentally slapped himself and said, "Oh."

Pyra giggled and led him down a hallway right next to the staircase and into the bathroom, which was on the right side, and the only door in the hallway. She opened up a pantry and pulled out a container while humming to herself. She was rummaging through the container until she pulled out a small red crystal roughly the size of his eye. She held is out to him, and he took it without question. As soon as he did, the sensation in between his legs went away, and he felt as if he had slept the entire night all over again.

"Thanks, Mom," he said without thinking.

"Oh, you're quite… welcome," she said with a slight pause.

When she paused, he looked up at her to see her eyes sparkling with surprise and joy. He cocked his head in confusion until he registered what he just said, after which he just smiled as well.

"Why don't you get ready so that you can apply for school?" Pyra said.

"School?" Lumiere asked stupidly.

"Yes, school; no child of mine shall be uneducated fools," Pyra said.

Lumiere shrugged as best he could and said, "Alright."

He walked out of the bathroom and up to his room so that he could see what was in the closet; maybe something he could wear…. He opened the white door that was his closet and saw an array of different necklaces, pendants, necklaces, and everything of the like, ranging from gold to silver to bronze to copper, with every jewel from ruby to diamond to emerald to topaz to quartz. But there was one pendant that caught his attention.

It was completely made of silver and bore no jewel in the center; only the center bore the symbol on his desk. He didn't know why, but he was drawn to it, and he found himself standing on his hind legs and reaching for it with his forepaws. He took the pendant and tied it around his neck, making sure it wouldn't shift or come off. He stood back and took a look in the mirror that was on the back of the door; the pendant looked completely natural to him, and he smiled at how it caught the sun just right.

"Yeah, I could wear this," he said to himself.

He walked out of his room with it on and came across Vyra, who had on a golden pendant with tiny crystals of sapphire, ruby, topaz, and emerald to represent the four elements, as well as a satchel on her side. He wisely chose to look ahead as if she wasn't there, but she scoffed at him and snarled. He only pretended she wasn't there and walked back downstairs, where Pyra was waiting at the door for both of them. Vyra hesitantly followed him downstairs and pushed her way past Pyra, opening the door and making her way out onto the street and towards the school herself.

Pyra looked after her with a sad look in her eye before her motherly aura returned, and she gently smiled down at Lumiere.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied as she held the door open for him.

"You look nice with that on," she said, gesturing to the pendant.

"Thanks," he said, partially for the compliment and partially for the door.

She chuckled and said, "I'm guessing you don't know why that symbol is important."

"No; all I know is that I'm kinda… drawn to it," Lumiere replied.

Pyra only chuckled again and said, "Take a walk with me."

"Do I have a choice?" Lumiere joked, drawing another chuckle from Pyra, before she sighed and began the story of Chryosis.

"Long ago, before the Dark Master was born and before even the previous Dragon Temple was built, there was a lone dragon with scales as white and fair as the clouds, much like yours. His name was Chryosis, or "Cloud Jumper" as the Cheetahs called him. He was abandoned even before he hatched for reasons lost to time, and his egg ended up in the Cheetah village, where he hatched and was raised by the chief of that very village himself. He learned to fly, heal, and control the element of fire all by himself. The fire he breathed was as white as the clouds he would often fly in as a hatchling. He passed his coming of age with ease and became a successful hunter for his people.

"One day, however, a dragon crashed in the woods a few miles away from the village. Chryosis was coincidentally out hunting at that time and was there for the dragoness, who's scales were as black as night and her fire as dark as the shadow she created. She… was the first dragon to wield two elements; the element of fire, and the element of shadow. Her name was Dika, and she was a beauty that made every species turn their heads. When Chryosis brought her back to the Cheetah village, every male tried to woo her into being their mates, but she kindly turned down every single one of them with a gentle smile. Nevertheless, they all tried to sway her in suggestive ways… except Chryosis.

"After he rescued her, he cared for her, but never tried to mate her like any other dragon would have done. As a result, she went crazy over him, sending him message after message that she wanted to be with him, yet he never asked the question she was too nervous to ask, which was why she sent messages instead of outright asking him… until one night, when she asked him while stargazing. They bonded together that night, and they had a happy life in the Cheetah village… until another dragon came to the Cheetah village.

"He asked Chryosis and Dika to go back with him, and they agreed, parting with the Cheetahs and living for a few years under the Guardians of those days. Their life was nearly perfect. But one day, one of the Guardians, Icalyk, Guardian of Ice, became… corrupted; he delved into dark arts and became even more cold and distant than he already was. One day, however, he hired another to kill the head of the Guardians; Tempest, the Guardian of Lightning. The assassin succeeded in killing Tempest, and the two other Guardians mourned, before becoming cold as well, bickering with each other constantly. Until Icalyk tempted them with darkness. He taught them the dark ways, along with the assassin who killed Tempest. They called themselves… the Harbingers. They plunged the land into darkness and killed whoever stood in their way… until Chryosis and Dika formed a resistance; the Saviors."

"The armies of both forces clashed for years, neither gaining leverage over the other… until Chryosis learned the significance of his white scales. He was taught the ways of the Light by the Chronicler of that age, and for the first time in a decade, the Saviors looked like they had a chance. Before that, however, Dika laid an egg; another white egg. This gave not only Chryosis confidence, but a legacy, and he charged the Harbinger's ranks, using the Light as the Chronicler taught him to. But Icalyk was determined to stop this new threat and charged the Savior's ranks. No one knows what happened thereafter, but we do know that Chryosis's son bore that symbol upon his brow, and that Chryosis became the new Chronicler after the Battle of Warfang, thus beginning a new age."

"Wow…" Lumiere gasped.

Pyra chuckled and said, "'Wow' indeed. My mother used to tell me that story every night before I went to bed."

They walked into the Temple after Pyra finished her tale, which was teeming with students and teachers, since the Dragon Temple's halls doubled as an academy. Pyra and Lumiere walked up to a counter made of stone, which was probably where Lumiere would sign up for the academy and get their schedule.

"Hello, may I help you?" asked an older earth dragoness.

"Yes, I'm here to sign this little guy up for the academy," Pyra responded.

"Well hello, little one!" she said, smiling down at him.

It took only a couple minutes to get signed up and for Lumiere to get his schedule, which consisted of mainly battle strategy classes, math, science, and magic/elemental classes. She wrote it down on a parchment and gave it to him for the next day, which was coincidentally the day school started for his age group.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Pyra said, walking with him away from the counter before asking, "Would you like to go and meet some of the other students?"

"Sure; why not?" Lumiere replied with a smile.

Pyra also smiled and led him in a different direction, which eventually came into a larger room about the twice the size of the Dragon Temple, with kids his age running all around.

"Alright, did you want me to stay, or can you find your way back?" Pyra asked him.

He was nervous about all these other kids, but he said, "I think I can find my way back."

Pyra smiled her usual, motherly smile and said, "Alright, sweetie; just be sure to be home before sundown."

"Yeah, no problem," Lumiere replied.

He watched as Pyra walked away, though he eventually looked back at all the kids in the room; there were about three hundred kids there, socializing in small groups or standing around. But one dragon in particular caught his attention.

"Hey, Spyro!" he called, recognizing the purple dragon's scales from a mile away.

Spyro spun around to search for the source of the voice, and he smiled when he saw Lumiere padding towards his small group of four.

"Hey, Lumiere!" he called.

Lumiere broke into a jog and met up with Spyro, Cynder, and the other two dragons, one of which was red and the other of which is pink.

"Who's this cutie?" asked the pink one flirtatiously.

"This is Lumiere; he showed up at the Temple yesterday," Spyro explained.

"Hey, I'm Flame," said the red one.

"And I'm Ember; I'm sure you and I'll get along _very_ well," she said with a dangerous glint in her eye, making Lumiere take a tentative step back.

"Hey, stop flirting with every guy you see," Flame complained.

"Oh alright," Ember replied, trying to sound disappointed.

"So what'd you do yesterday after we left?" Cynder asked him.

"Well I got a new home, a new mom, a new… sister, and a new life," Lumiere replied happily, though hesitating when he said "sister."

"Who's you new mom?" Flame asked with a chuckle.

"Alright, this may or may not take you guys by surprise, but…" he said, before looking up at Flame and Ember, "Pyra."

"What?!" they yelped in disbelief.

" _Pyra's_ taking care of you now?!" Ember asked.

"Yeah," Lumiere responded nonchalantly.

It took a couple second, but they got their bearings about them after the initial shock and they settled down, now realizing that Pyra always had that motherly vibe that made everyone's day just a little brighter.

"Well I'm happy for you; you got a good adoptive mom," Spyro said.

"I'm surprised that she took you in, though; she's already got her hands full with Vyra," Flame said, shuddering a bit.

Lumiere shifted his hindquarters a bit and grumbled, "We both do."

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked.

"Well, for starters, she threatened me and got right up in my face with her mom right there, then just this morning, she kneed me right in the junk; if Pyra hadn't given me those red crystals, I'd be limping right now."

"Vyra _what_?!" Ember gasped in shock. "Man, I knew she was in her cycle, but I didn't think she would do something like _that_!"

"Tell that to my crotch," Lumiere grumbled, still remembering how much that hurt.

Everyone there looked at him with sympathy, but a hard voice rang out from behind Spyro and Cynder, who Lumiere was facing, so he got the first look at the ice dragon that had just called for the two.

"Hey, losers!" the voice called.

"Icarus," Cynder growled, turning to face the brute that was the ice dragon; he had four horns jutting out from the side of his face and a tail blade that resembled a fish hook. Other than that, he was a pretty normal ice dragon.

"Who's the new meat?" he asked, a couple more dragons coming up behind him.

There were two fire dragons, three earth dragons, one ice dragon and two electric dragons that were backing him up, all of them looking as tough, if not tougher, than Icarus.

"He's -" Spyro started.

"Don't answer his question for him, loser! I wanna hear it from him," Icarus shouted, before his voice turned back to normal.

Immediately, the whole room quieted down, and the only sound was the near-silent whispering of other dragons surrounding them. They were all waiting to see what the white dragon would do.

"The name's Lumiere," he said, albeit quietly.

"Aww, what's the matter? Do I scare you?" Icarus teased.

The truth was he wasn't scared at all; he was just a quiet speaker. Nevertheless, he made sure to add volume to his voice as he said the one word that punctuated his presence.

"No."

"No?" Icarus echoed.

"No. You don't scare me; I just don't talk very loud," Lumiere replied.

Icarus smiled evilly and said, "Well why don't we change that? Tell ya what; you ditch these losers, and you'll be able to roar louder than any dragon had roared before."

"Power doesn't come from just the volume of your voice," Lumiere replied, clearly rejecting Icarus's deal.

"Is power what you want? Because I can give it to ya," Icarus said.

"I just don't want anything to do with _you_ ," Lumiere replied.

Icarus's smile wavered a bit, but he kept his composure and asked, "Why's that, now, little guy?"

"Because it's people like _you_ who shatter when they fall; you rise only to fall, and the higher you rise, the harder you fall. I just don't want to fall like you will."

"Ooooh!" all the other kids jeered, pointing at him.

Icarus finally lost it; he snarled and jumped at Lumiere, pinning his face under his right forepaw and pushing his head into the ground, stepping on his chest so that it wouldn't be easy for him to escape the already-iron grip Icarus held him in.

"Go ahead then; put your money where your mouth is and see if it'll do you any good," he growled.

"Icarus, stop!" Cynder pleaded.

"And why should I do that, sweetheart?" Icarus chided without taking his eyes off of Lumiere, who was trembling a bit under the ice dragon's grip.

"Because he's new here, alright?! For the love of our Ancestors, just let him go!" Ember pleaded.

Then, quick as lightning, Lumiere grabbed Icarus's forepaw and swept out both of his hind legs from under him with his own, making the dragon stumble, until Lumiere rolled the bulky dragon over onto his back to that he lay on top of Icarus, instead of the other way around. Icarus landed on his back with a loud thud that echoed across the whole room, and everyone stared wide-eyed at Lumiere, the kid who just took down one of the biggest, baddest brutes in the whole school.

"I don't submit to anyone unless I trust them. No one yet has earned my trust," he said quietly, then in his head he added, _'Except Pyra.'_

He let Icarus go slowly, but as soon as he did, he was thrown off and slammed back on the ground, and a sickening _crack!_ reverberated across the entire room, followed by Lumiere's grunt of pain; the force Icarus used to slam him back on the ground caused his left wing to dislocate, and he held back the tears as Icarus got back in his face.

"You'll regret this," he said menacingly. He got off of Lumiere and muttered, "Let's go," to his gang, after which he and his gang left the room, leaving Lumiere on the ground panting with a dislocated wing.

"Ancestors…" Spyro mumbled.

Cynder and Flame were immediately at his sides, and as they were helping him back to his feet, Cynder asked, "Are you okay?"

"Mentally of physically?" Lumiere replied. "I already hate that guy, my pride was just demolished, and I got a dislocated wing."

"Rhetorical question…" Cynder replied apologetically.

"I just hope Pyra doesn't find out about this…" he muttered.

"Why not? She already doesn't like him, and since your pretty much her adopted son, she'll be even more biased against him, meaning we could get him suspended or even expelled for assault!" Ember replied.

Lumiere huffed and said, "I'd rather not have other people fighting my battles for me."

"Good point," said Spyro.

"Well, the only way she's not gonna find out about this is if I don't go home with any injuries," Lumiere stated with a mental cringe; somehow, he knew what he would have to do, and he didn't like it in the slightest.

"Meaning?" asked Cynder.

Lumiere sighed before replying with, "We're gonna have to pop my wing back in place."

"Oh… um…" Cynder stuttered, not really expecting the answer she got, "how do we do that?"

"You're just gonna have to put it back in its proper position," he said, turning around to observe the damage.

Thankfully, it didn't look too bad on the outside; the wing was just bent a little out of place, so it looked a bit awkward. He just hoped it wasn't worse on the inside, and that doing this wouldn't hurt.

Spyro sighed and walked to Lumiere's side and reached up with his forepaws, grabbing the wing in both of his hands.

He looked to Lumiere and asked, "You ready?"

"Not really, but go ahead," he replied.

Spyro nodded, but Cynder, Flame, and Ember faced him, and Flame said, "Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone stand up to Icarus like that before; I mean, there was this one kid, but he was shut up _real_ quick."

"Well, I mean I'm just _doing_ what's right," Lumiere responded, emphasizing "doing" because of Spyro popping his wing back into its proper position. The purple dragon got off Lumiere's side and walked around next to his friends. "Thanks, Spyro," Lumiere said to him.

"No problem. Man, I _knew_ I should've brought my pouch of red crystals with me today; that would've made putting your wing back in place a whole lot easier," the purple dragon responded.

"You still carry that around?" Flame asked.

"Well, today's one of the few days I didn't have it," Spyro replied.

"Just my luck," Lumiere grumbled.

Ember and Spyro walked on either side of him and put a comforting paw on each of his shoulder.

"Hey, if you keep that fire of yours with Icarus, then I'm sure you'll do just fine," Ember said in his right ear.

"Thanks, Ember," Lumiere replied gratefully with a smile.

Spyro then got a smile and asked, "Hey, do you guys wanna go for lunch?"

"Sure; usual place?" Flame asked.

"Yep," Spyro responded.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ember said enthusiastically.

 _M_

 **Oh god, the cliches are taking control! All hands on deck! Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	4. School (Pt 2)

**I really have nothing to say other than a warning for domestic abuse and self-harm. Also, this story is now rated M for that reason, but if you want me to tone down that scene, I'll do what I can; it'll be important later in the story.**

 _M_

The place they'd arrived at a couple minutes earlier was actually pretty nice; it was much like Pyra's home in a way, with a homey feel and pretty spacious considering the amount of customers and area the restaurant had to work with. The place itself was called "Dragon's Fire" and was located just a couple blocks from the Temple, which was good because he didn't have to walk too far to get a regular drink or a lunch or something.

Unfortunately, the place had a bit of a wait going on because it was the last free day for their age group, so students their age, along with some parents and even grandparents, were there to have a last meal before the first trimester started. The wait should've only been a couple more minutes, though, so that was good; it meant that the service was good, and that meals were getting out relatively quick.

"Spyro, table for five!" called an older lightning dragoness.

Lumiere, along with the rest of his friends, got up and followed the dragoness to a table near the back, which was pretty well lit and already had menus waiting. After they were seated, another younger lightning dragoness came up to their table and took their order for drinks. Lumiere just got whatever the others got, since they seemed to know what was good and what wasn't as good, so he ended up getting a sparkling watermelon ale.

When the drinks arrived, they asked for a few minutes to decide what they wanted; they all got different things, so Lumiere just went with what Ember got; a slab of steak done medium-well. However, this made the pink dragoness in question giggle and look at him dreamily, effectively making Lumiere uncomfortable and a little hot under the collar. …Why did that have to be a phrase? What even _was_ a collar?

After they ordered their food and the waitress disappeared to relay their order to the cooks, Spyro and Flame proposed a toast.

Flame raised his mug and said, "To friendship."

"No…" Lumiere said, making them all perk up. "To family," he continued, raising his own mug. They all smiled and clinked their mugs together and took a swig of their drinks.

After a few more minutes, their food arrived, the smell immediately overwhelming their nostrils, making them all unconsciously salivate at the enticing scent of fresh-cooked meat. They dug in without another word, none of them speaking to each other for as long as they ate, which showed that the food they got was good. Lumiere was especially silent, but he made sure to slow down a bit so he didn't choke on his food and made sure to go back for a drink once in a while, unlike the others who wolfed down their food and all but forgot about their drinks. It took them awhile, but they eventually finished their heartfelt meal and pushed their plates to the side, now trying to get to know more about Lumiere.

"So, where're you from?" asked Flame.

"No clue; I just woke up in the Temple without any memory whatsoever," Lumiere responded.

"Whatsoever?" Ember asked.

"Whatsoever," Lumiere repeated.

"So you don't know anything about your old life?" Spyro asked.

"Nope," Lumiere responded.

"You need a nickname!" Ember piped up out of nowhere.

Lumiere stared at her for a couple seconds before asking, "Pardon?"

"You really think I'm saying your long-ass name every time I want your attention?" Ember responded playfully.

"Uh… yeah?" Lumiere responded, confused as to why she wouldn't use his full name.

"Well you clearly don't know how people are," she said as she took a drink from her mug.

Lumiere didn't respond to that; of _course_ he didn't know how people were! He just randomly woke up in a strange world without any memory to speak of, and a couple minutes later experiencing a strange vision of what could've been his world, but he didn't know for sure if it was.

"Why would I? I don't even know where I am in relation to the rest of the world," Lumiere responded.

"Oh yeah, that's right… no memory…" Ember responded bashfully. "Sorry…."

"Eh, it's cool; I can't get mad if I don't know what pushes my buttons," Lumiere responded.

"Icarus managed to push your buttons," Cynder stated.

"True…" Lumiere responded.

"But back to the topic of a nickname!" Ember piped up. "How about El?"

"El?" Lumiere asked in amusement.

"What, you don't like it?" Ember asked.

"Not really," Lumiere responded truthfully.

"Then… how about Lume?"

"Nah."

"Uh… alright, I'm all out of ideas," Ember said, embarrassed.

"How about Lumi?" asked a new voice out of nowhere.

They all turned to see Vyra standing there with too sweet of a smile for it to be real, and Lumiere all but spun back around to face his friends with a panicked expression; she was about the last person he wanted to see, but, nonetheless, there she was, now walking towards them. Lumiere suppressed a whine as she got closer and closer.

"We heard about what you did to Lumiere!" Ember blurted before gasping and covering her mouth.

Lumiere shot her a death glare, and she only responded with an apologetic smile as he risked a look back. He could tell that pissed her off, but her sweet smile remained there.

He turned to Ember and quietly hissed, "I think you just killed my children!"

"Sorry…" she replied sheepishly.

"Hey, Lumi," she said as she pulled up a chair.

He chose to remain silent and pretend she wasn't there as he had done this morning. But the imminent "punishment" he would receive almost made him beg for mercy right there in front of all these people; he didn't know why, but she scared him out of his wits, because unlike most people, she had the power to carry out her threats.

"What'd I tell you about telling anyone about our little 'alone time' in the hall?" she asked. "Go ahead; you can answer."

"S-say goodbye to Lumi Jr.," he whispered fearfully with wide eyes.

"Vyra, stop! This isn't you!" Cynder pleaded.

"I mean, technically it _is_ me; I'm not like being _controlled_ or anything," she said. Then, she leaned in close to Lumiere, the male barely stifling a whimper, and whispered, "You and I are gonna have a 'talk' before Mom gets home."

She smiled sweetly and left without another word, putting the chair back in its place. Only when she completely exited the building did Lumiere relax.

"Hey, why're you scared of her? I mean, she can be pretty scary, but c'mon; you took on Icarus, the biggest, baddest bully of them all!" Flame cried.

"It's just… I don't know… she just _scares_ me, for whatever reason," Lumiere answered honestly.

"Well, whatever comes your way, we got your back," Spyro encouraged.

"Thanks guys…" he said before lifting up his mug again for another toast. "To family…."

"To family!" the others echoed before they all took another swig, finishing their drinks.

 _M_

"I tell you to do _one simple thing_ , and you can't do it!" Vyra yelled as she punched Lumiere. "Are you braindead or something?!"

Lumiere chose once again to remain silent as Vyra continued to abuse him like she had been for the past twenty minutes. She had already made sure that his baby-maker received a "proper" treatment, meaning beating it into near-oblivion and making sure to tie him down to the ground so he couldn't get any red crystals. That was for five minutes. So he'd been sitting there for fifteen minutes in pure agony with his lower organs crushed while she resorted to punching, slapping, and kicking, and overall beating him into submission.

She once again curb-stomped his stomach, making him moan in anguish as she said, "I'm on top here! You're gonna listen to me! You're just some kid they found on the streets!"

"P-ple-ease… s-sto-stop…" Lumiere managed.

"Oh, still speaking? Then you haven't learned your lesson, Lumi," Vyra spat.

She threw a punch aimed at his crotch again, throwing him into a new wave of intense, burning pain and silencing his plea for mercy, though he did whimper a bit.

"C'mon, scream like the little bitch you are, Lumi!" she growled and kicked his gut. Lumiere groaned, but it was muffled since he didn't open his mouth. "C'mon, we got two hours until Mom gets home! Do you really want me to beat you for that long?!"

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Lumiere screamed.

"I'm just showing you your place in this family!" Vyra shot back.

Lumiere couldn't help it at that point; he broke into a mess of tears and sobs on the ground, completely broken in will and spirit. Only then did Vyra falter for some reason. _'Maybe she_ is _capable of mercy and remorse,'_ Lumiere reasoned.

"Why…?" he whispered before he started sobbing again.

Why was this happening to him? He didn't even do anything to her! Yet she's beating him like he'd shattered her life! Why?! Was she insecure about her importance? Was that it? But he's just some kid from the street Pyra picked up; he'd never be able to replace her, even if he didn't have all of his memory!

The more he dwelled on the subject, the angrier it made him, and he snapped his gaze onto Vyra when she started to undo the restraints holding him down.

"Go get some red crystals," she said without emotion.

Lumiere all but shot up and ran to the downstairs bathroom. He slammed the door shut and flung open the pantry door, desperate for relief from his pain. He fumbled through the container Pyra had grabbed earlier that same day and grabbed some red crystals, while also dropping some on the ground in the process. When he absorbed the crystals, he felt good as new. At least… physically; mentally, he was a complete mess.

"NNNGGHH!! FUCKING BIIIIIIITCH!! YOU FUCKING RUINED MY LIIIIFE!! I HATE YOOOOOOUUUUUU!! WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO YOU?! WHYYYYYYYYY?! RRRAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!!"

He went on a rampage in the bathroom, slamming into the ground and making a mess of the counters before curling up into a ball and sobbing loudly, his tears flowing like miniature rivers from his eyes. He heard a sob outside the door, but he didn't pay it any mind. His life was supposed to be a good one, not filled with pain like he just experienced! He saw some kind of blade on the floor next to him for some reason, but he didn't care where it was from; he picked up the blade and slashed his wrist, begging for some relief from the unbearable mental pain. Blood flowed from the new, rather deep gash on his wrist, staining his fair, white scales red with his own blood. He cut again, though. And again. And again. And again. And again.

"You did this to me…" he said in a broken whisper. "You… did this to me…."

After a couple minutes of him settling down, he grabbed another red crystal and healed the gashes on his wrist, making sure to grab a couple towels to wipe up the blood and tears that were on the ground, though he did so weakly. He slowly and shakily began to clean up the bathroom he had demolished in his mental breakdown, picking up bottles and containers that lay strewn about on the ground. When he was done, he took a hesitant look in the mirror to see what was in his eyes, but he didn't at all like what he saw; his eyes were completely devoid of any emotion, and he had to wonder if this was how he looked all the time, but dismissed the idea just as quickly, as he had clearly seen emotion in his eyes that same morning.

He stepped away from the mirror and surveyed the bathroom one more time to see if everything was in its proper place. Once he did that, he raised a paw to the doorknob and slowly turned, fully expecting Vyra to be standing there with a snarl or a scowl or something of the sorts. But the hallway was empty; he didn't hear anything at all. His paw shook as it made to pass through the bathroom doorway and back out into the rest of the house, but he eventually set it down on the wooden floor of the hallway. He slowly padded to the living room, only to be met with very dim lights.

 _'She's probably asleep now,'_ he thought. _'Beating me must've taken a lot out of her,'_ he added bitterly.

Nevertheless, he took cautious steps out of the hallway and up the stairs, hesitating to pass Vyra's room. But he was able to pass the closed door and open the door to his own room, closing it without a sound. He sighed quietly as he made his way over to the desk and took off his little pendant. He then made his way to the bed and pulled the covers to the side, before getting in bed and pulling the covers back over himself. He had a hard time falling asleep, but eventually did so with much difficulty.

 _M_

"This is for dropping me on my head, asshole!" Kirk yelled.

The creature roared and attempted to charge him just as Kirk pulled the trigger.

Thankfully, the shot flew straight and true, hitting the Limper right in the heart. It gave a final roar of agony before falling flat on what used to be its face. Kirk sighed and got up, now taking the time to rub the top of his head where the creature had dropped him on, wincing with pain as he ran over that spot.

"Goddammit…" he muttered before pulling the hammer back and shooting the corpse in the head without looking.

He probably had a minor concussion, but it shouldn't hinder him for long. He stumbled and sheathed his machete, though he kept his pistol drawn just in case he ran into another Limper, or something worse like a Predator. He adjusted his gas mask and walked into the next room over, where he was strangely met with nothing.

He spotted a long hallway that the blood trail led to, and he wisely chose to follow it, believing that the trail would lead him to a body or the girl. The hallway itself was made of brick and was more industrial in nature, showing that whatever building this used to be a part of, it was off-limits to regular people. He was feeling confident until the hallway split at a t-junction. He didn't hear another scream, but the blood trail led to the left, so he started jogging down that way with a heavy sigh. It was when he came to a right turn that he realized that this might take a while.

 _'So much for a supply run,'_ he thought grimly before following the trail of blood further.

He followed the trail of blood for a little while until his legs were starting to get a little sore from jogging with his gear on, but he shrugged it off and continued to move through the halls. When he finally turned the corner on last time and came to a dead end, he realized the trail led to a little room.

"Hello?" he called out, making sure his pistol was at least loaded.

No response of any kind.

"Hello?" he called, a little more urgently this time.

With a loud huff, he opened the closed door to the room, which would reveal a dead body, a traumatized girl, or an infected Limper. He aimed his gun forward as he opened the door, but was confused when he didn't see anything, and moved into the room slowly, still with his pistol raised, as Deformities were known to hide in corners of rooms, and he wanted to be ready if one got the jump on him. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but this case was still pretty bad.

"AH!! GET AWAY!!" shrieked a female voice from above, before something sharp collided with his back, making him go flying into the cement wall. He hit the wall with a lot of force, and his vision swam as he felt his gun go flying and one of the straps to his gas mask come loose.

"Shit!" he cursed as he lifted his hand to fix the strap.

Once he did so, he picked up his gun, looked in the corner of the room where the attack had come from and aimed his pistol at whatever attacker there was. But he dropped his pistol in pure shock as his eyes met those of his "attacker." There, sitting right there, right in front of him, was a black, slender, female dragon with six horns, claws, and a scythe-shaped tail blade as white as bone. He continued to gape until the dragoness curled up more to herself, and he realized that her left wing was bent at an odd angle, and she had a gash across the left side of her chest.

"Hey hey, take it easy," he said, breaking out of his stupor and trying to act as normal as he could.

"I-I'm warning you! S-stay away!" she stuttered fearfully but holding up her tail blade.

"Hey, it's alright," Kirk said gently, putting both hands out in front of him and in her sight to show her he was, at the moment, unarmed. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"A-are you a monster?" she asked.

Kirk furrowed his brow in confusion, before her words clicked into place in his mind, and he chuckled with as gentle of a smile as he could manage. "No, I'm not; I'm what you call a 'good guy,'" he replied humorously, making the dragoness smile a little and give a half-hearted chuckle of her own. Kirk smiled lightly and asked, "What's your name?"

"D-Dika…" she said.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading and have a good day/night!**


	5. School (Pt 3)

_M_

"Lumiere!" he heard Pyra call from outside his door. "Lumiere, get up! It's your first day at school!"

Lumiere groaned as he slowly woke up from his strange dream, but he pulled off his covers anyway and walked over to his desk, grabbing his pendant and putting it back on.

"Lumiere, are you awake?"

"Yeah, sorry," he half-heartedly called back.

"Well hurry up; I made breakfast for you and Vyra!"

Lumiere flinched at the mention of the yellow female's name, but sighed and made his way over to the door, opening it and making his way into the bathroom. He closed the door and looked in the bathtub to see how the nozzles were situated and what it looked like in general. It was a pretty standard bathtub to say the least, even if it was a little bigger than normal; it had two handles for hot and cold, as well as a chrome shower head. He sighed and took care of his business before exiting the bathroom to see Vyra standing there on her hind legs, waiting patiently with a towel in her forepaws. He didn't pay her any mind like the last two times he could help it, but he couldn't help but notice her saddened expression.

When he made it downstairs, he was hit with a heavenly smell like he was yesterday in Dragon's Fire, but this scent had more of a morning vibe to it for some reason. He heard sizzling and crackling of something on the stove, and the closer he moved to the kitchen, the more overpowering the smell was becoming, until he was practically drooling by the time he entered the kitchen.

When Pyra noticed his expression, she chuckled and asked, "Smell good?"

Lumiere gave a half-hearted smile and nodded, taking a seat at the counter and politely waiting for breakfast to be served.

But his half-assed smile didn't go unnoticed by the Fire Guardian, though she figured it was probably nerves and gently asked, "Nervous?"

"Yeah," Lumiere lied; he was nervous about school, but he found out yesterday that he had most of his classes with Spyro, Flame, Cynder, Ember, or sometimes two or three of them, though the only class they all had together was reading. He wasn't nervous about school itself, though, just one class in particular; battle strategy. Why? Because he and Vyra were both in that class, and that was the only class that he didn't have with his four friends.

Pyra came up and hugged him with her forepaws and said, "Oh I'm sure it's going to be fine; I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks, Mom," he said, though he returned her embrace for a different reason; he was just glad to have someone to lean on in his time of need, and one hug from his adoptive mother reminded him that his new life was actually more good than bad, so he cheered up instantly.

"Oh!" she said suddenly, breaking the embrace and leaning over to get something. "I got you this!" she said, holding a light brown satchel with the symbol of Chryosis pressed into the leather.

She handed it to Lumiere with a huge smile and hugged him again before she got back to cooking whatever she was cooking, though she was now also serving plates. She used a spatula to put some eggs on a blue plate, as well as some bacon and hashbrowns, both of which were still steaming hot. She repeated this with two more plates and set one plate in front of Lumiere.

She walked a bit out of the kitchen and yelled, "Vyra! Breakfast!"

"Hold on, Mom!" came the muffled voice of Vyra from upstairs.

Lumiere waited a few agonizing minutes for his breakfast to cool off before looking to Pyra and mouthing, "Thanks," before digging right in. He took a fork in hand and began shoveling scrambled eggs in his mouth before his mother joined him in eating, though she was a bit more tame.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied with a mouthful of food before he resumed wolfing down his food. Pyra only smiled and resumed eating as well before they heard the shower turn off. After about two more minutes, they heard the bathroom door open, before Vyra appeared in the stairwell. Lumiere immediately averted his gaze and focused even further on his food, though he slowed down his eating noticeably.

"Good morning, honey. How'd you sleep?" Pyra asked, not noticing how Lumiere appeared more nervous around her.

All Pyra got in response was a tired groan as Vyra took a seat at the counter next to Pyra, who was now in between her and Lumiere. When Vyra sat down, Lumiere stopped eating altogether and now acted extremely interested in his satchel, which he picked up and rummaged through, pretending to check to see if he had everything.

Pyra turned to him and said, "Don't worry, Lumiere; I made sure that you had everything for today.

Lumiere looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Mom," he said, now setting down his satchel by his feet and picking up his fork again, though he snuck an uneasy glance at Vyra, who was looking at him with sad eyes. He turned back to his food and finished the last of his food before looking at the clock on the wall.

"Oh crap!" he said suddenly, picking up his plate and rushing into the kitchen.

"What?" Pyra asked, also standing up.

"Sorry, I gotta go; I promised to meet my buddies in front of the school at 7:30!" he quickly elaborated. He walked back to the counter and grabbed his satchel, hugging Pyra one last time. "I'll see you when I get back!"

"Alright, have a good day at school!" she yelled after him.

He smiled and bounded out of the door with his satchel strapped to and bouncing on his side, making sure to close the door with his tail and running down the street to meet with his friends at the front entrance, meaning that he would have to go around the whole Temple, and it was already 7:26 when he looked at the clock. He continued to run until the front entrance came into view, making Lumiere slide to a stop to catch his breath. He heaved gulping breaths as he took a look at the front entrance, which was a lot more impressive than the side entrance he and his mother took two days in a row.

Pillars held up the little ledge where statues of the four Guardians stood, and lining the walkway that led straight away from the entrance were not only more statues of past Guardians, but hedges, undergrowth, streams, ponds, stones, and even a fountain that stood a little more than a couple hundred yards from the entrance, though the first statues started right after the walkways that curved around the Temple, which eventually led into even more paths. Dragons of all kind of elements flew around, even the four dark elements; shadow, fear, poison, and wind. Judging by the size of the Temple on the surface, he thought that there was no way that many dragons could fit in there, though he figured that some of the academy was underground as well, since the city of Warfang sat a little higher up than most cities.

"Holy shit…" he muttered in pure awe.

"Hey, Lumi!" called a voice right in front of him.

He only searched for the voice for a split second before his eyes caught the vibrant purple and pink scales of Spyro and Ember, before he eventually noticed the darker scales of Cynder and the more common scales of Flame.

"Hey, guys!" he yelled with a smile and bounded towards them.

"Hey, Lumi!" Spyro said, echoing Ember's words.

The four friends ran over to meet the fifth member of their party, and Flame tackled him to the ground as a playful gesture. Lumiere laughed and kicked him off lightly, being sure to not harm the excited fire dragon who now sat on his back. He rolled back over on his feet with a wide smile as Lumiere embraced Spyro.

"What's up, guys?" he said breathlessly.

Cynder noticed and asked, "Are you alright? You sound out of breath."

"I am; I had to run from my house to get here," Lumiere responded.

"Where's that?" Flame asked.

"On the other side of the Temple," Lumiere responded.

They all looked a bit surprised, and Spyro said, "O-oh, sorry I asked to meet here; I kinda forgot that Pyra lived that far away. If I remembered, I would've asked to meet up halfway."

Lumiere chuckled and said, "It's fine, Spyro; it's nothing I can't handle. It'll help keep me in shape; that's for sure."

"Yeah, it'll keep you looking cute," Ember said dreamily.

"Uh… yeah…" Lumiere said nervously as he caught a gleam in her eye.

"Hey, Spyro and I always spar; if you want, you're always welcome to tag along with us. That's probably better than running," Flame offered.

"And we sometimes deliver messages to other cities that have been built since the Dark Master's fall," Spyro added. "You can always help with that, too."

"Geez, how do you guys have any free time?" Lumiere asked chuckling.

Cynder smiled and moved closer to Spyro, rubbing against his side and intertwining her tail with his. "We _make_ time," was all she said, smiling as Spyro rubbed her back with his golden wing, giving a smile of his own.

Lumiere chuckled and said, "Well, thanks for the offers; I'll keep them in mind."

"Spyro!"

The group of five turned to see three dragons coming toward them, all of them with smiles on their faces, and all of them sporting the colors of dark elements.

"Hey, guys!" Spyro said, running forward to meet the three dragons, the other four not far behind.

One of them, the wind dragon in the front, was a dark gray dragon with an even darker underbelly and wing membranes, as well as eyes as gray as thunder clouds; his claws were black as night, and he strangely didn't have a tail blade. The other was a female, a fear dragon, that was a crimson red that was way darker than any of the fire dragons' he'd seen, along with a black underbelly and scarlet eyes; her claws were a lighter shade of red like her eyes, and her tail blade was in the shape of a "v." The last dragon was a female poison dragon, and was sporting a black hide with specks and stripes of neon green making her hide appear to shimmer; her eyes were also neon green, as were her claws and tail blade, which was in the shape of a spear like his own.

"I thought you said the crowd wouldn't be too bad," said the fear dragon.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Jinx," Spyro replied.

"Eh, it's fine; you know I like to complain," Jinx replied.

"Oh, so you're just gonna forget about us then, are you?" complained the poison dragoness.

"You guys literally just showed up, Toxia," Ember replied.

"He's right, Tox," said the wind dragon.

Toxia punched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "Shut it, Cyclone!"

Cyclone only chuckled and forced most of his weight on her, since the two were close together, making Toxia stumble.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, mister? Alright; you're sleeping on the couch for a week," Toxia threatened.

"If that's the case, then you'll be too," Cyclone retorted, a knowing smirk on his face.

 _'Seems they're together too,'_ Lumiere thought to himself.

"Who's this?" Jinx asked Spyro, jerking his head in Lumiere's direction.

"This is Lumiere, though we call him Lumi; he was found outside the Temple three nights ago," Spyro responded.

"Uh, actually, you just started calling me that," Lumiere responded.

"But you haven't told us to stop," Cynder retorted with an innocent smile.

Lumiere opened his mouth to retort, but took the time to think about her words and said, "Fair enough."

Toxia chuckled and said, "I like him; he knows when he's beat. Maybe you can take a page out of his book, Cy."

"Oh please; you know how stubborn I can be," the gray male replied.

Toxia chuckled as well and smiled at the white male. "Please excuse my mate; he can be a bit of a blockhead sometimes," she said, turning to him at the last words, before turning back to Lumiere.

"As shown in Exhibit A," Jinx chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not _dumb_!" Cyclone whined.

"True," Flame agreed, "but you can be a blockhead."

"So what's _your_ story?" Jinx asked Lumiere.

"I actually have no clue; I have amnesia," Lumiere replied.

"You mean _total_ amnesia?" Toxia asked in disbelief. "You don't remember _anything_?"

"Nope," Lumiere replied nonchalantly.

"And you're _cool_ with that?" Cyclone asked.

Lumiere thought about that for a second before saying, "Yeah."

"Pyra took him in," Spyro explained.

"Oh, no wonder you're cool with that; she's the best," Jinx said.

"Yeah, but didn't her mate leave her before Vyra was born?" Toxia asked, confused. "I couldn't imagine taking care of one kid _with_ Cy, much less two _without_ him; how does she do it?"

Flame replied with, "Well, for one, Vyra's pretty chill for a Lightning dragon, though she probably got that from her mother; she's so level-headed and mature, she could probably take care of her _own_ hatchlings if given the chance."

"Again, tell that to my crotch," Lumiere grumbled.

Toxia cocked her head and asked, "Why?"

"Well, yesterday morning, she kneed me in the crotch for speaking to her, and last night, she basically beat my balls into oblivion."

" _What_?!" Toxia yelped. "No, I know her; she would _never_ do something like that!"

"Do I really have to repeat myself?" Lumiere asked.

"She's in her cycle; you know firsthand how unpredictable females can be in their cycle," Flame added, getting glares from Toxia, Ember, Jinx and Cynder. He shrunk under their gazes and muttered, "Sorry…."

"Seriously, though… for _Vyra_ to do something like that to her adopted _brother_ …" Jinx whispered.

"I think you're emphasizing the wrong word, Jinx," Cyclone said.

"What word should I be emphasizing?" Jinx asked in confusion.

"Adopted," Cyclone replied simply.

"Huh…" was all Jinx uttered in reply.

"See? I'm smart when I wanna be!" Cyclone claimed.

"Is that really what you're worried about?" Toxia asked.

Cyclone looked down in shame and said, "Sorry…."

"It's fine, man," Lumiere replied.

"How are you okay with your friggin' _adopted sister_ destroying your most treasured body part?!" Spyro asked in shock.

"Well, for one, we have a bunch of red crystals, and two, I have Pyra."

"Fair enough," Spyro replied.

"Wow… now I wish more than ever that Pyra was my mom," Jinx muttered.

"Yeah, she's always really nice and has that kind of motherly vibe to her," Ember said. "She'd be a cool mom; you got really lucky, Lumi."

"Yeah, you could've been put in an orphanage like Shocker," Cynder agreed in a sad voice. "Poor guy… I wonder how he's doing…."

"Yeah… if only Pyra took him in too; then Lumi would have someone to sympathize with," Ember added.

"Okay, why are you all like, 'Poor Lumi, I hope he comes out of this alright, sucks that he can't remember shit about his past?'" Lumiere asked.

"Well, would you rather us be like Icarus and insult you not being able to remember anything about your past?" Ember shot back.

Lumiere sighed and just hung his head in defeat. "Fine; say whatever you wanna say."

Just after he said that, some kind of bell rang, and the students started walking into the Temple through the huge doorway. Lumiere was about to follow suit, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Hang back until the stream slows down," came Jinx's voice. "You don't wanna get swept away by the sea, do you?"

"No, I guess not," Lumiere replied.

So they hung back for about a minute until the mobbing of students died down, and was now only a couple entering at a time.

When that happened, Jinx smiled and said, "Alright, coast is clear."

As they followed Jinx into the school, Lumiere walked beside the fear dragon and asked, "Who do you have first period?"

"Oh, I have Iciclis for Physics. You?"

"Same. Second period?"

"Lavar for Trigonometry. You?"

"Same, actually. Third?" Lumiere asked, now a little nervous.

"Cyclos for Magic. You?"

Lumiere breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Crayg for El. Prop."

"Oh, sweet; I heard from Cy's older brother and Cylos's other students who took that class that it's pretty easy, and that he's a pretty chill teacher."

"Really? Cool," Lumiere replied.

"There's the dynamic duo in the making," he heard Ember whispered to Cynder, who chuckled in response.

"Who do you have fourth period?" Lumiere asked Jinx.

"Ragnis for Flying. You?"

"Entros for Reading. Who do you have fifth period?"

"I have lunch that period," Jinx replied. "So do Toxia and Cyclone, but I'm not sure about the others."

"No, everyone else, including me, has lunch that period. What about sixth?"

"Tempris for Reading. You?"

"Volta for Battle Strat. Seventh?"

"Tempris for Reading; I got the double-period class. You?"

"Cerulea for Magic."

"Ugh, I feel for you, buddy," Jinx said, shaking her head.

"Why?" Lumiere asked.

"I heard from people that she's a really hard one to please, even if you're like an A student in every other class."

"Hmm… who do you have eight?"

"Oria for Study Hall. You?"

"Same, though I heard she has two different rooms," Lumiere replied.

"Yeah, same; what room do you have?"

"S322. You?"

"Same," Jinx responded.

"Huh, so we're pretty much following each other for most the day, then," Lumiere said humorously.

Jinx snorted and said, "Yeah, guess we are."

Ember and Cynder both giggled about something behind them, making the two males in front of them turn to face them.

"What's so funny?" Lumiere asked.

"Yeah, am I scenting again?" Jinx asked as she lifted one leg up to look in between her legs, making the two girls giggle again.

Lumiere gave her a weird look, but turned back to the two females when Ember said, "We just think it's funny how quickly males begin to trust females."

Lumiere and Jinx both looked at each other before Jinx said, "Well, this is our stop." She turned to the others and said, "See you guys!"

"See you, Jinx!" Spyro said, continuing to walk on with everyone else besides Flame, who had left to find his class a couple paces earlier.

"Well, let's see what this is all about, shall we?" Lumiere asked the fear dragon beside him.

"Yes, let's," Jinx replied, following Lumiere into the classroom, which was pretty big.

The classroom itself was a lot like the halls; the walls were made of stone bricks, the floors and ceiling were made of tinier and more polished versions of the bricks that made up the walls. In the ceiling were windows that allowed light to flow in unrestrained, and on some of the walls were torches that added even more light. There weren't any desks, surprisingly, but rows of seats that ascended the farther back they got, and on the edges were stairs to get to rows. At the front of the classroom was a classic blackboard, on which the words "Choose your seats" were written in yellow chalk, as well as the teacher's desk, where the teacher was sitting at the moment, watching the kids file in one by one.

The older ice dragon had a kind look in his eyes, and the edges of his mouth were pulled up in a slight smile; his wings had a couple holes in them, and one of his eight horns was chipped, but that was about all besides the sunken eyes that gave away the ice dragon's age. Lumiere met the old dragon's eyes for a second before turning away and following Jinx to the third row of ten. They moved to about the middle and sat next to each other, and Lumiere grabbed his satchel, setting it on the ground against on of the stands that kept the wooden desks up, as did Jinx. After about a minute, Cynder joined them and sat to Jinx's right.

The ringing noise sounded throughout the classroom, and the ice dragon got up, heading over to the door and letting the last of the students enter before closing the door.

"Alright, hello everyone. My name is Iciclis, and this is Physics class," said the dragon in a surprisingly strong voice. "Today, we're just going to go over what you know about Physics from what you all gathered from Chemistry last year, and even Biology two years prior. So get out a piece of loose leaf paper and write at least ten things you know about Physics, skip a line, then write five thing you want to learn in Physics this year. I don't care if you write them with bullet points, in paragraph format, or if you just write them one to a line; just write them down and put down your writing utensils when you're done so I know who's complete and who needs more time."

Students were already getting out the required materials before Iciclis finished speaking, Lumiere included. There was only one problem, however; he didn't know anything about science. He sat there like an idiot for the first few seconds, his pencil not moving on his paper while Iciclis started moving through the rows.

 _'Physics studies the movement of nature,'_ said a voice in his mind.

 _'Kirk!'_ Lumiere shouted in his mind.

Kirk chuckled, but quickly said, _'Hurry up! Write it down before Mr. Teacher gets here!'_

Lumiere smiled slightly before he wrote down "Physics studies the movement of nature" on his paper.

 _'Alright, what else?'_ Lumiere asked Kirk.

 _'Physics is the base of reality,'_ the man replied.

Lumiere quickly wrote it down and asked, _'What else?'_

 _'There are three laws that physics follows.'_

Lumiere wrote it down and then asked, _'What are the three laws?'_

 _'A body at rest stays at rest, and vice versa, a body in motion in motion tends to move in a straight line unless acted upon by an equal or stronger force, and for every action there is a reaction.'_

Kirk said this slowly so that the young dragon could write it down without a problem, sometimes even pausing so that Lumiere could catch up.

When Iciclis passed him and looked over his paper quickly, he whispered, "Good job, keep up the good work."

Lumiere nodded his thanks and asked Kirk, _'Alright, what else?'_

 _'It helps describe the properties of cell membranes and cell walls when applicable.'_

This continued until Lumiere had written down ten things that he would've learned in Physics if he remembered events from his previous life. He then wrote down a couple things he would like to learn based on what he had written down. He sat there for a few minutes while the scribbling of pencils and pens around him continued, until the last student put down their pencil, and Iciclis spoke up again.

"Alright, now that you're all done, who can tell me a couple things about Physics?" he asked.

Everyone in the classroom raised their forepaws, including Lumiere, which earned him a strange look from Jinx and Cynder. "I'll tell you later," he mouthed. Seeming satisfied with his answer, they turned back to Iciclis.

"Yes, white scales; your name and your answer," he said.

"I'm Lumiere, and I wrote that Physics studies the movement of nature."

"Correct, Lumiere, good job! He is correct; Physics studies the movement of nature. However, that can be extended; can anyone add onto that?"

A couple people put their forepaws down, but the majority of people kept them up. Iciclis eventually picked on a random girl, who was able to add onto Lumiere's answer. He just looked ahead as Iciclis wrote down what he said, as well as what the girl said, and turned back to look at his students.

"Come now, don't be shy!" he encouraged.

He picked on a wind dragon in front of the three friends, who answered with, "There are three main rules that Physics goes by."

"Correct! Can anyone name the three rules?"

Lumiere raised his hand.

"Lumiere was it?" Iciclis asked. Lumiere only nodded. "Alright, can you name all three rules?"

Lumiere nodded again and said, "An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion."

"Correct!" Iciclis said, turning to write down what the wind dragon and he said, though he wrote down what he said a little more to the left with dashes instead of bullet points. Turning back to Lumiere, he asked, "Do you know the other two?"

Lumiere looked at his paper and said, "An object in motion tends to move in a straight line until acted upon by an equal or greater force."

"Yes, and the last one?"

"For every action there is a reaction."

"Great job, Lumiere! Is that what other people call you, or do you have a nickname that you go by?"

He looked to Cynder and Jinx, who both nodded, before looking back to Iciclis and saying, "My friends call me Lumi."

"Alright, I'll remember that, Lumi," the old ice dragon said. "Lumi…. In any case, yes, he is correct; if you do not have this written down on your paper, write it down now. Those three rules will be essential to our first unit, which will take up the first three weeks."

As Iciclis continued, Lumiere took the chance to look behind him to see who had added onto his original statement, and saw none other than Vyra.

He suddenly wanted to get out of that class as soon as possible.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading and have a good day/night!**


	6. Who Am I?

_M_

It was an agonizing wait, but first period eventually did end. Lumiere followed Jinx to second period, Cynder went in a separate direction, and they met up with Flame, who was also in their second period. They didn't have to walk far, but the whole classroom was completely different than Iciclis's; unlike the Ice dragon's classroom, there were individual desks, which were arranged into eight pods of four or five. There was a seating chart up in the front, which the trio of friends walked up to. Unfortunately, Lumiere was sitting in the front, which was on the other side of the classroom from Jinx and Flame, who sat in the back corner.

As he took his seat, the teacher walked in and smiled at the white male. Lumiere nodded and smiled back before turning around and waving at his friends, who waved back with smiles and laughs of their own. Lumiere studied the blackboard and saw instructions on there that told him to get out a loose leaf sheet of paper and write his name.

 _'Ugh, no more skills reviews…'_ he grumbled in his head.

Kirk chuckled and said, _'Don't worry, kid; if that's all that's on the board, I don't think that's happening until week 2.'_

 _'You sure?'_

 _'Which one of us went through 15 years of school?'_ Kirk asked. Lumiere was about to say that he might've, but Kirk said, _'15 years that we_ remember

Lumiere sighed and said, _'Fair enough….'_

Kirk chuckled again and said, _'Y'know, that used to be my saying.'_

 _'What're you trying to say?'_

 _'Just how similar we seem,'_ Kirk replied with a mental smile.

Just as Lumiere was about to ask another question, the bell rang for second period, and Lavar walked around to the front of the class and said, "Alright, welcome to my class, and I hope you are all having an amazing day!"

 _'Wow, I think he was born into the wrong element,'_ Lumiere said to Kirk.

 _'Same; he seems more like a lightning dragon,'_ the man replied.

Lumiere laughed in his head while paying attention to what Lavar was saying.

"So, what were are going to do is just learn more about each other so that you can work better with your peers and so I know who to put you with," he said jubilantly. "So, number your paper 1 to 35, since that's how many students are in this class. I'm going to give you a topic, then you are going to write it down and find someone with the same interest in the topic as you as fast as you can; whoever can find a buddy the fastest each round will get a piece of candy."

"Ooooh," a bunch of kids said at once, making Lumiere smirk.

"Alright, how do you feel about magic? Go!"

Right away, all the kids shot up to try and find a partner; Jinx bounded towards him and patted his shoulder immediately, leaving Flame to try and find another partner, who just so happened to be another fire dragon.

"Well, I mean you _gotta_ be interested in magic if you're taking magic classes this year!" Jinx defended once she caught the look Flame was giving her.

"Fair enough," Lumiere laughed, patting her on the shoulder.

"Alright, this looks like a close one, but I think I'm gonna go with these two over here!" Lavar said, pointing to Lumiere and Jinx.

"Dang it," mumbled Flame, who was right behind Lumiere.

"Alright, how do you feel about reading for fun?"

 _M_

Second, third, and fourth period passed without incident, and Lumiere found himself meeting up with Jinx in the middle of the hallways, along with Spyro, since he had fourth period with the purple dragon.

"Hey, what's up?" he called, grabbing the fear dragon's attention.

"Hey, how're your other classes treating you?" she asked.

"Alright, though the other two teachers weren't as nice as Iciclis and Lavar."

"Yeah, I heard from other students that they're like the average teachers; I think it's just Cerulea you don't want to get," Jinx replied.

"Hmm…" Lumiere hummed as the others met them in the halls.

"Hey, what's up, Lumi!" Ember greeted as she lightly punched his side playfully.

"Hey, Ember," Lumiere sighed.

"Aww, what's the matter, Lumi? Are your classes hard?" she asked.

"No, they're fine," he replied, though he sighed again; he didn't hear Kirk in his mind, and thinking about the man made him think about what his past was like.

"Then what's the matter?" Ember asked with a smile.

"Just…" Lumiere started, sighing before saying, "Nothing… it's nothing."

Ember and Flame, who just walked up, frowned. "Oh, c'mon; it's gotta be _something_. If you don't tell us, we'll get Jinx to read your mind."

Lumiere sighed and said, "I was just thinking about what I was like before."

The two fire dragons lost their smiles. "Oh…" was all Ember said; Flame stayed respectably silent.

Unfortunately for him, a certain fear dragon heard. "I thought you said that stuff didn't get ya down," Jinx said as she fell in stride with him.

"Look, I just don't want you guys to worry about what's probably nothing; you probably have bigger things to worry about," Lumiere replied, faking his smile.

Jinx only blinked with a skeptical look on her face and said, "That smile's fake."

Lumiere wiped it off his face and asked, "Was it really that bad?"

"No, but I can read people better than everyone else because of my element," Jinx responded. "Hey, we're all here for you, no matter what; nothing's gonna deter us from comforting you, even if you don't want the comfort."

She put a paw around his shoulder as they walked, and Lumiere really smiled gratefully at the dark red female. "Thanks… I needed that."

"No problem; I'd fly around the world for my friends if need be."

Lumiere smiled at this as their other friends caught up. Spyro caught a glimpse of Jinx's hand on Lumiere's shoulder and smiled knowingly, as did Cynder and Toxia, who were both behind the two.

When they entered the mess hall, they immediately took two of the booths instead of one of the many tables.

Jinx smiled at Lumiere, who found himself entranced by the smile, and followed in a daze as Jinx got in line for chicken wings. She looked behind her and giggled when she saw she had a follower.

"Why're you following me?" she asked teasingly with a smile.

Lumiere broke out of his stupor and replied with, "I'm not; this just looked better than the other two options."

Jinx only smiled and said, "There are three other option, big boy."

Lumiere's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "I-I knew that!" he stuttered.

Jinx only rolled her eyes and turned back around, though she never lost her smile; she had a pretty good guess as to why Lumiere was following her, but she wanted to keep quiet and wait for him to make the first move. But that probably wouldn't be for a couple days; they needed to get to know each other first.

They waited in line for a minute or two before they got their respective meals and went to sit back down at their booth, where everyone else already sat with their lunches. Lumiere and Jinx both sat down next to each other across from Spyro and Cynder, who broke their kiss to look at the two dragons.

"What?" Lumiere asked.

Spyro only shook his head with a smile and turned his attention back to Cynder. But it seemed like the black dragoness had other plans for that particular hour.

"I think we're gonna go for some fresh air," she said, urging Spyro out of the booth.

"Where?" Lumiere asked.

"Outside," Spyro responded as if it were obvious.

"Wait, you can do that?"

"Yeah; it said that in the guidelines we got a week ago," Jinx said.

"In case you forgot, I showed up two days ago and signed up yesterday," Lumiere shot back.

"Oh… sorry," Jinx replied, not paying any mind to Spyro and Cynder walking away with their tails intertwined.

Lumiere looked at them with envy and wondered if he had a mate, and he just couldn't remember her.

"Hey," Jinx said lightly, making Lumiere look at her. "That's not you; this is who you are now. It doesn't matter who you were in your old life; you have a new life."

Lumiere smiled at the fear dragoness as he caught Flame and Ember looking at them with smiles, though when he noticed them, the quickly looked back at their food with snickers.

 _'Man, they're like kids…'_ he sighed inwardly.

 _'Yeah, they can be like that sometimes,'_ said a voice in his head. Strangely, the voice wasn't Kirk, but a smile from the dragoness beside him told him exactly who it was.

 _'JINX?!'_ he yelped in his mind, though he kept his outward composure.

 _'That's my name,'_ the fear dragoness responded.

 _'Wha… why… HOW THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY HEAD?!'_

 _'Calm down, big boy; it's just something I can do,'_ Jinx responded.

With a sigh, Lumiere got over his shock, but now embarrassment was taking hold; in short, he was a male, and he was sitting next a female… a very beautiful female… with a very big rear end….

He heard Jinx chuckle in his head and she muttered, _'Males… you're all the same.'_

 _'Hey!'_ he complained.

Jinx only smiled and ate the last of her chicken wings. Outwardly, she said, "You might wanna start on your chicken before it gets cold."

She got out of the booth to throw away the bones of her wings just as Lumiere eyed his chicken wings. Tentatively, he took a bite and found that it was actually pretty good. Unfortunately, however, his mind was in different places.

He asked himself a question he hadn't thought to ask himself for the past two-and-a-half day; "Who the hell am I?" he whispered.

With a sigh, he got up as well and headed outside for some of that fresh air Cynder was talking about, though he made sure to walk in a different direction than both of them and Jinx so that no one would follow him; he just wanted time alone to think.

Thankfully, he made it out of the mess hall without incident and walked towards one of the exits that led to sunlight. He sighed and walked out in between a couple in front of him and a group behind him, though he quickly walked away from both as soon as the sun hit his scales. He sighed and walked in a direction where no one was walking; around the school. Where he would go if he was to walk home. With a sigh, he headed back around the school, figuring he could get in through where he usually came out since his sixth period class was right there.

When the beautiful scenery met his eyes once more, he smiled and padded to the edge of the cliff, which was guarded by a railing of stone. He stopped at the railing and sat on his haunches, looking over the city and clearing his mind for a long thinking time.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked a voice from behind him.

 _M_


	7. Forgiveness

_M_

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked a voice from behind him.

He turned his head to see Vyra standing there with her head low, not meeting his eyes. Lumiere only sighed again and turned back around with a tear in his eye; it seemed as if Vyra would take _any_ chance to beat him senseless and mercilessly. When she started to pad towards him, he tensed up and prepared for the pain to hit at any instant.

Instead, she asked in a gentle voice, "Could you move over, please?"

Lumiere didn't know why, but he complied, scooching to the right a bit so that Vyra could sit beside him, which she did with slight hesitation. With a sigh, she sat on her haunches as well, though she stayed silent for a while.

"Look… about yesterday…" she said finally, making Lumiere turn to face her, but when she looked up to meet his eyes, his own widened and he averted his gaze immediately. Vyra let out a sad sigh and said, "I'm sorry about yesterday… I… that wasn't me… and don't know who that was, and I don't know why they did what they did, but…." She trailed off with a sigh as she looked back at the ground, clearly remorseful for making the white male beside her scared of her. "I'm… I get it if you don't want to see me, but I just wanted to get that off my chest… and if you ever need anything and you're for some reason too embarrassed or… whatever to ask Mom… you can always knock on my door; it's right next to yours…."

Lumiere didn't say anything; he only continued to stare forward with a stoic expression on his face… as if she didn't exist. With a scoff and a sad smile, Vyra shook her head and said, "Y'know what… I don't even know why I came out here… I'll just go now."

She got up to leave, but turned back to Lumiere when he said, "What do you see?"

She sat back down beside him as he gestured to the beautiful city before them. "I see… Warfang," she said simply, confused at his sudden question.

"And what is Warfang?" he asked her, now daring to meet her purple eyes.

"It's a city," she said, now intrigued at what he was trying to get at.

"Exactly. What does a city and a family relationship have in common?"

Vyra sighed and looked at the stone ground beneath them as she realized what he was getting at. "They both have a structure… and a weak point."

Lumiere smiled and turned back to the city.

"Lumiere…" Vyra said, tears of guilt now coming to her eyes. "Lumiere, I'm so, so sorry I put you through that torture last night… I never meant to be the weak point," she whispered before she broke down into a mess of tears and sobs just as Lumiere had last night, tied down to her bedroom floor.

Lumiere lost his smile as soon as he heard the first sob and only looked at her as she cried next to him. He didn't know how he knew this, but he knew that she was seeking some kind of comfort, so he slowly and hesitantly scooched closer and closer to her until he was almost touching her. Then, in a complete leap of faith, he put a wing around her gently and comfortingly. Instantly, Vyra jumped up and crushed the white male in a bear hug as she cried into his chest.

"I'm so sorry…" she whispered in between her guilt-stricken sobs.

Lumiere closed his eyes and sighed, before quietly saying, "I forgive you."

Vyra's sobbing got even louder at those three words, and Lumiere only held his sister close as she emptied her eyes onto his chest. He heard a couple footsteps behind them and turned to see Jinx, Flame, Toxia, and Cyclone standing there with shocked expressions.

After a couple seconds of them staring back at each other, Jinx quietly said, "Lunch is just about over, and they're calling the students back in."

Vyra jumped at the sound of Jinx's voice and whipped around as she saw the four dragons standing there, staring at her. Lumiere only rubbed her back comfortingly with his wing as she forcefully stopped her tears, looking at the others with fear in her eyes; fear for what they would think of her for being emotionally weak.

Toxia stepped beside Jinx and asked, "Are you alright, Vyra?"

Vyra sniffed and shrugged Lumiere's wing off of her back and said in a shaky voice, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Lumiere only mouthed, "I'll explain later," to his friends as Vyra turned and walked away with her head low, but she looked back one last time to meet Lumiere's eyes. He only smiled lightly as she turned and bounded off to the front entrance.

"C'mon, guys," Lumiere said, opening the door to the side entrance, "this way'd be shorter."

He held open the door for his friends as they filed inside; Flame was first, nodding his thanks to the white male. Toxia was next and whispered a quick thank you to Lumiere. After her, Cyclone tried to take the door, but Lumiere politely declined his offer, and the dark gray male smiled and padded after his mate as Jinx walked through the door. When Lumiere finally walked back inside, he fell in stride with Jinx.

The fear dragon turned to him and said, "Y'know, it's a really hard thing to do, what you did."

"What's that?"

"Forgiving someone… especially after something like what happened to you."

"Oh…" Lumiere mumbled, smiling and looking at the ground bashfully.

"But it's a brave thing to do; it takes courage to admit you're wrong, but it takes even more courage to accept that and keep the peace."

"Thanks," Lumiere said, his cheeks tinting a light pink as they walked up to their sixth period.

"Alright, guess I'll see you after seventh period," Jinx said quietly as she ran away to get to her sixth period in time.

"Guess you will," Lumiere whispered when she turned the corner.

He walked into the class to see Vyra already sitting in one of the double-desks with another female lightning dragon with a comforting arm around her shoulders. The chalkboard said "Choose your seats," and Lumiere didn't see another satchel next to Vyra, so he moved closer and took the seat next to her. Vyra looked at him with bloodshot eyes before looking away again.

"Who are you?" the lightning dragoness asked.

"Her adopted brother," Lumiere responded in a quiet voice.

A look of realization crossed the dragoness's face, and she quickly walked away with one more comforting rub on Vyra's shoulders. Vyra only let out a shaky sigh and turned away.

"Look, I said sorry; what more do you want?" she asked.

"A sister," Lumiere responded simply.

Vyra pressed her lips and looked back to Lumiere with her bloodshot eyes. Lumiere put his own forepaws across her shoulders comfortingly and pulled her into a hug, which she accepted without question.

"Look, we may have started off on the wrong foot," Lumiere started, looking away, "but this is something we can move past; I just want someone who can protect me when Mom isn't there… and someone _I_ can protect when Mom isn't there."

Vyra looked at him when he said this. He only looked back to her and said, "That's what a brother's there for; just protect me from the other females, and you got yourself a bodyguard."

Vyra smiled weakly and rested her head on his shoulder as they sat in that embrace for a couple more seconds before the bell rang. When it did, they broke apart, and Lumiere reached down to grab his satchel when the teacher walked in.

She was probably the oldest teacher he saw throughout his day, but her scales had surprisingly not lost any of their luster. Her eyes were stern, but not too stern, as if this were a very strict mother of one of his friends, and she carried herself with a confidence that he had not seen in any of the Guardians besides Pyra; her scales shone in the sunlight that was coming through the windows on the roof in perfect contrast to her dark navy-blue underbelly, claws, eyes, and tail blade, which was in the shape of Volteer's. In a lot of ways, she was _uncannily_ similar to the Lightning Guardian, making Lumiere think that this may have been his sister or something of the sorts. But if they were siblings, the looks was where the similarities ended; she carried herself differently and her eyes held a wisdom that seemed unparalleled. Even her voice was less eccentric and more commanding that Volteer's.

"Hello, class. How are we all doing?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Oh, I'm alright; how about you, lovely lady?" came a voice from behind Lumiere.

The white male turned around and mentally cursed his bad look; there, two rows behind him and one column to the left… sat Icarus, his bright eyes and cheeky smile making him seem like an absolute angel.

"I'm doing fine, Icarus, thank you," Volta responded. "Now, today, we're going to get right into the first unit."

A lot of kids groaned. Lumiere and Vyra weren't any of them.

"Now now, you chose this class!" Volta scolded. "You should've known that this class, as well as the teacher, expects a lot from you; this is an advanced-level class, and I expect greatness."

Lumiere and Vyra looked at each other and exchanged weak smiles, though they were a little more relaxed, before facing the teacher once again.

"Now, this class, thankfully, doesn't have _any_ prerequisites, so you don't need any past knowledge from like advanced math or AP Physics, or whatever the case may be. _But_ , seeing as how this is an advanced level class, you will have to maintain a B average throughout the first trimester; otherwise, you will be removed from this class, and an alternate elective will be assigned to you."

A couple kids around Lumiere and Vyra gulped audibly, but they didn't; they knew that they would help each other no matter what, especially with homework or something.

"Alright, so we are going to be going over Unit 1.1; Introduction to Battle Strategy. This is the only unit that will take up two weeks; all the others will take up only one, so you shouldn't have an excuse to get less than a B on the test two weeks from now."

As she talked, she moved throughout the rows, making sure each student had their stuff out, and telling them to get it out if they didn't.

"First question of Battle Strategy; what is Battle Strategy?"

Icarus raised his hand instantly. "It's the relationship between tactics and statistic!" he answered.

"Close," Volta said, "but not quite. Who can add onto that?"

Vyra and Lumiere immediately raised their hands. Volta pointed at Lumiere.

"Battle strategy is a set of ideas and goals implemented by military forces to pursue and achieve strategic goals."

Vyra gave him a strange look, but just like when he conjured up his own name from nothing, he was left feeling just as confused as his sister looked.

"Yes, exactly," Volta said, walking back to the blackboard, picking up a piece of chalk, and writing what Lumiere just said. "It doesn't have to be _our_ military; it could be _any_ military. Not only did our forces use battle strategy in the war against the Dark Master, so did our enemies. In war, battle strategy is used on both sides to hopefully confuse or overwhelm the enemy, but also to keep the battles short and sweet so that you don't lose as many lives as you would if the battle had gone on twice as long; that's why so many dragons lost their lives in the war against the Dark Master. Because we were at war for over three hundred years."

"Actually, it was two-hundred-and-eighty-eight," Icarus interrupted.

"Do I look like the history teacher to you?" Volta asked.

"Oooooh!" the other kids jeered. Icarus flushed red and shut up instantly.

"Now, that's still around three hundred years. Three _hundred_ years; imagine what that would do to any army, especially a volunteer army like the one we used in the war. Even now, though, the enemy is still using battle strategy to figure out how to best evade us, and we are using battle strategy to figure out how to best wipe them out."

While she spoke, Volta went up to the blackboard and pulled down a map of Warfang. She picked up a ruler and pointed to the map.

"This is Warfang. Can anyone tell me what the weak point is in Warfang?"

Vyra tensed up a bit at this statement because it reminded her of their earlier conversation, but raised her hand anyways, along with Lumiere.

"Yes, Vyra?"

"The front gates where Spyro and Cynder stopped the apes from entering the city," she answered.

"Exactly," Volta said, pointing to that point with the ruler.

"Now, can anyone tell me how to make that area stronger?"

Someone behind them raised their hand and answered with, "Build up the forces there?"

"No, not exactly. Yes?"

"Set traps," came the voice of Icarus.

"That is one possibility. Can someone give me another?"

"Build up elemental barriers, like walls of stone or fire," Lumiere answered.

"Yes; those are the two main ways you can stop those forces from entering the city," Volta said, setting the ruler upright against the chalkboard and picking up a piece of chalk, writing down what Icarus and Lumiere had said. Lumiere turned around to see Icarus scowling at him, and smiled back triumphantly, before turning back around before the teacher saw him.

"Now, what are the disadvantages of using these strategies?" she asked. "Come on, I don't care how morbid your answers are; this is _battle strategy_ , not preschool."

Icarus raised his hand and answered, "The enemy could kill the dragons casting the elemental defenses."

"Yes," Volta said before realizing Lumiere also had his hand up.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"The enemy could use sheer numbers to overwhelm traps, our forces, dragons, etcetera," he answered. "In essence, they would dive headstrong and kill themselves so that their comrades could have a chance at getting at us."

"Exactly. Now, these desks are arranged this way for a reason; so that you have a partner. Look to your partner." When all the dragons did this, Volta said, "This is your enemy for the rest of the year in this class; there will be no changing seats. You are to learn as much as you can about each other so that you may predict each other's strategies."

But, unbeknownst to the teacher, Lumiere and Vyra were smiling at each other; this was exciting to them, as this would be a chance to get to know more about each other.

"Good luck," Lumiere whispered as Volta continued.

"You're the one who'll be needing luck," Vyra replied with a mischievous smile, all previous aggression having dissipated.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	8. Romance Class

**Alright, something new happening with this story; I'm putting it into phases. Currently, I'm in the process of writing Phase 4, but that's only because Phase 3 is really long. But enough about that; let's start on Phase 2!**

 ** _Phase II_**

 _M_

"Hey, Vyra?" Lumiere asked, looking at the yellow dragoness who was sitting on her bed, reading a book.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Look, this may seem a little much for me right now, but…" he started, trailing off.

Vyra laughed and gently said, "Yes? Go ahead; I won't laugh."

Lumiere sighed and said, "I want to ask a girl out to the dance!"

Vyra's mouth dropped open in shock. Indeed, a month had passed since the start of the school year, and the Homecoming dance was a week from them; he was thinking of asking Jinx out. The thing was… he had no idea how to interact with girls in that way, so he needed someone who was a little more experienced in that field; not only is Vyra a female, but Lumiere found out three weeks ago that she was bisexual as well, so she knew not only what she wanted from a date, but how to present herself on both sides.

"Ancestors, Lumi!" she said, mouth still agape. "Who?"

"Jinx," Lumiere replied.

Vyra only chuckled and smiled, before getting back to her book.

"Hey, I thought you said you weren't gonna laugh!" Lumiere said accusingly.

"No no, it's not that; I just think it's cool that you found a girl you like," she said. "Just let me finish this chapter, and we'll get to work on making you a ladies man."

Lumiere smiled and said, "Thanks… sis."

When he said that, Vyra immediately perked up, no longer interested in the book she was reading, but now looking at Lumiere with utter shock; that was the first time he'd ever called her that.

"Y'know what?" she said, closing the book. "I think that chapter can wait; not much going on anyways… bro."

Lumiere smiled even wider at this as Vyra got off the bed and walked out of her room, Lumiere following as they walked down the stairs; to train him, Vyra would need a little help.

"Hey, Mom, I'm taking Lumi out to the city," she said when they saw Pyra in the kitchen.

"Alright, sweetie. Just be back before dinner; we have company coming over," she said.

"Company?" the two asked in unison; that was the first they heard of it.

"Yes; Volteer is coming over for dinner so he can train you two on your elements," she replied.

"But I still don't know my element," Lumiere whined.

"Exactly why Volteer is coming over," Pyra said sternly.

Vyra smiled and said, "Alright, whatever; we'll be home before dinner."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Pyra replied. Lumiere and Vyra both walked up to her and embraced her just as she stood to do the same.

As soon as they all broke the hug, Vyra started off towards the front door and said, "Alright, love you, Mom! Bye!"

"Bye, Mom!" Lumiere called.

"Bye!" Pyra called back.

When they were out the door and walking down the street, Lumiere turned to Vyra and asked, "So why are we going to the city?"

"To get you some help," Vyra vaguely replied.

"That's a bit… vague," Lumiere pointed out. "Mind giving me details?"

Vyra smiled and laughed, but said nothing, leaving Lumiere to wonder just what the lightning dragoness was up to. They wandered the streets for a while until they came to a house that was about as big as Pyra's, but with windows in the front so that the whole living room would be on display if not for the sunlight reflecting off the near-black windows.

Vyra walked up to the wooden door and knocked three times. She looked back at Lumiere with a smile before the door opened, revealing another electric dragoness who looked uncannily similar to Volta and Volteer.

"Hey, Voltia!" Vyra greeted warmly.

"Hi, Vyra!" Voltia responded, embracing Vyra before kissing her cheek. Lumiere raised an eyebrow at this, but kept his peace and watched the two greet each other until Voltia turned to him and asked, "Who's the little guy?"

"My brother," Vyra replied without hesitation.

"Oh, gotcha," Voltia said before turning to Lumiere and holding out a paw for him to shake. "Hi, I'm Voltiari, but everyone just calls me Voltia."

He turned to Vyra, who blushed and mouthed, "Girlfriend."

"Oh," Lumiere mouthed back before turning back to Voltia and saying, "Lumiere. Nice to meet you."

He shook her paw with a smile, as did Voltia, before she invited them in. Lumiere entered first, but he heard Voltia whisper to Vyra, "My mom and dad are out right now; they're gonna be out for the rest of the night if you wanna… come back later."

"Sorry, can't," he heard Vyra whisper back.

The rest was lost as Lumiere descended deeper into the walls of Voltia's house, which was very similar in structure to Pyra's own home. When the two other dragonesses followed him in, Voltia spoke up and said, "Everyone else is downstairs."

"Everyone?" Lumiere and Vyra asked at the same time.

Voltia only gave Vyra a look, who then in turn gained a determined expression and said, "Right; to work, then."

"Work?" Lumiere asked.

Vyra only shushed him and urged him towards a door that was where the hallway to the downstairs bathroom would've been in his own house. She nudged his flank urgently to get the young male to descend the stair to Voltia's basement. Lumiere did so with a bit of hesitation, but was pleasantly surprised by who Voltia meant by "everyone."

"Toxia?! Cyclone?!" he shouted, indeed seeing the two lovebirds making out on the couch, but jumping and breaking the kiss as soon as they heard Lumiere's voice, both sitting still with blushes on their face. But Lumiere had now turned his attention to the two other dragons sitting on the other couch.

"Cynder?! _Spyro_?!"

"Hey, Lumi," Spyro greeted, getting off of his couch and embracing Lumiere, who, while he was shocked, returned it.

They stood like that for a couple seconds before Voltia walked up beside him and said, "Our friend here needs some help in the romance department."

"Who're you thinking of asking?" Cynder asked, though they already knew the answer.

"Jinx," he replied with a dreamy smile, blushing hard at the thought of asking the female out.

"Told you, Cy; pay up!" Toxia laughed.

"Ugh, fine," Cyclone groaned. "Later, though; I don't have any coins on me."

"I'm not talking about that," Toxia replied with as dreamy of a tone Lumiere had just spoken in.

"What? Oh," Cyclone said with a smile as his mate pulled him off to the bathroom, which was sectioned off by a little wooden door in the far right corner of the room.

"For the love of the Ancestors, those two can't keep off each other for _five seconds_!" Voltia complained.

"We were like that when _we_ started dating," Vyra said, though a little more quietly.

Voltia turned back to retort, before realizing it was true and turning back to Lumiere with a hint of a blush on her face.

"So, _young one_ ," she started in a way that was reminiscent of Volteer or Volta, "what do you know about _love_?" She flexed her wings so that the navy-blue membranes were clearly visible and drawing out the last syllable as if she were singing.

"Well… nothing," Lumiere responded.

"Never asked a girl out?" Voltia asked, starting to circle him.

"Um…."

"Never even _looked_ at a girl before Jinx?"

"I… uh…."

Thankfully, it was Spyro who saved him; "Uh… Voltia, Lumiere has amnesia; he doesn't remember anything past a month ago."

Voltia stopped and stared in surprise at Lumiere, before looking away and saying, "Oh… er, sorry."

"It's fine," Lumiere responded.

Voltia then perked up again and said, "Well then we got more work to do than we thought!"

Vyra giggled behind him, and he turned to see her with a bright smile on her face and a dreamy look in her eyes as she looked at Voltia.

"Alright, lesson one…" Voltia began.

 _'This is gonna be a long day,'_ Lumiere thought.

 _7 hours later…_

"… and that's how to work your love muscle to a girl's best pleasing," Voltia finished.

"I… uh… okay…" Lumiere said, a heavy blush on his face.

For the past seven hours, Spyro, Cynder, Voltia, Vyra, and eventually Cyclone and Toxia, had been educating him on the topic of love. Or, as he thought of it, emotionally torture and scar him for the rest of his life.

"Alright!" he said in a rather high-pitched voice. "I think Vyra and I have to get back to our place now!"

The words were coming out so fast, the others had a hard time understanding what he was saying.

"Aww, c'mon; don't you want me and Cyclone to _demonstrate_?" Toxia asked in a suggestive tone.

"That's just an excuse to mate again in the bathroom," Voltia laughed.

"Is not!" Cyclone defended. "We just want him to get the full experience."

"Yeah, sure," Vyra chuckled, rolling her eyes.

Cyclone looked indignant and said, "Honest, we were!" Toxia snapped her gaze to the wind dragon, who met her gaze nervously. "R-right?"

Toxia huffed and facepalmed with one paw before shaking her head at how thick-headed her mate was being.

"N-no thanks!" Lumiere responded. "I think we'll just get going now!"

Vyra huffed and said, "Alright, fine, ya big baby." She turned to Voltia and full-on kissed her on the lips. When they broke apart, Vyra said seductively, "I'll find a way to get back here before your parents come home."

"They won't be home until tomorrow morning," Voltia replied in an equally seductive tone.

"Geez, and I thought _we_ were bad," Toxia mumbled.

"You are," Spyro shot back with a laugh.

Toxia glared at him and succeeded in making the male squirm uncomfortably under her gaze. Toxia smiled triumphantly and leaned into her mate, who, since he wasn't ready for the sudden weight that was Toxia, toppled over into a rather suggestive position. They only smiled and began to make out right then and there, getting an eye roll from everyone but Lumiere, whose right eye started twitching instead.

"Alright, c'mon! We're gonna be late, Vyra!" he snapped quickly, wanting to get out of that room so he didn't pass out from the obscene amount of blood rushing to his face.

"Alright alright, geez!" Vyra replied. "Tonight," she said to Voltia, giving her a peck on the lips before following Lumiere, who was already halfway up the staircase and moving quickly. Once he cleared the basement doorway, he took a look at the clock that was conveniently placed over the fridge.

"Oh, shit! We _are_ gonna be late!" Lumiere shouted, bounding out of the house along with Vyra and hauling ass back to their house, which was thankfully only a couple blocks away.

They could smell Pyra's cooking before they were even on their block; the unmistakable scent of steak with steamed vegetables perforated the air and assaulted their nostrils without reserve.

"Damn, I wish Voltia came back with us," Vyra mumbled in between heavy pants as they finally arrived at their house. "She's never had Mom's cooking before."

"Oh please… you two would keep both of us up at night," Lumiere joked, afterwards releasing a wheezing laugh in between gulping breaths of air.

"Shut up," Vyra said, smacking him on the arm and chuckling lightly.

They took the chance to catch their breath outside before Lumiere opened the door, though he took a step back when the smell of Pyra's cooking hit him like Terrador's tail club; he'd never actually been hit with the thing, but he heard from old sparring buddies of the Earth Guardian's that it hurt like hell. Lumiere shook his head and held the door open for Vyra, who also had to take a step back because of the overwhelming heavenly scents wafting from the kitchen, though she muttered her thanks and stepped into their house. Lumiere began salivating the moment he stepped foot in the house.

"Hey, Mom?" Vyra asked.

"Hmm?" the Fire Guardian hummed, lifting her head from the cutting board, where she was cutting fresh broccoli.

"How do you make you cooking smell so amazing?!" Vyra shouted with a smile.

Pyra chuckled and directed her attention back to the cutting board before simply saying, "Practice."

Trying to get over his sudden hunger, Lumiere asked, "So when's Volteer showing up?"

At that moment, the doorbell rang three times.

With a smile, Vyra turned to the door and said, "I wonder who that could be."

Lumiere chuckled as Vyra padded to the door and looked through the peephole to confirm it was their evening guest, before opening it to reveal Volteer's massive frame taking up the doorway.

"My goodness!" he exclaimed as the smell hit him. "Where is that incredible scent coming from?"

"Mom's cooking," Vyra stated.

"Ah, that explains it," Volteer chuckled as Vyra moved over to let the eccentric Lightning Guardian in. At that moment, a timer rang out, and Pyra rushed to the oven, opening it as Volteer stepped into their house.

"Ah, Volteer! Just in time; dinner's ready," she said with a sweet smile.

"Are you… uh… are you in need of assistance, Pyra?" Volteer asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no thank you, Volteer, but thank you for asking," Pyra replied quickly.

Volteer smiled a bit, and Lumiere could've sworn he saw a hint of a blush on the old Guardian's face, but only shook his head as he got ready for dinner at the table, which was right behind their usual seats at the counter. Pyra moved with a speed that made even Volteer stunned as she scooped fresh veggies and steaks onto white plates, bringing them over to the table two at a time.

Catching everyone's stares, she defensively said, "What? I was a waitress in my younger years."

"She's amazing," Lumiere muttered to Vyra.

"Indeed she is," Volteer mumbled dreamily.

Vyra and Lumiere turned to him with arched eyebrows, surprised and amused at the same time that the Guardian slipped up that bad in front of the two.

"Er… just forget I said that," he said quickly.

"Will do," Vyra replied, exchanging a glance with Lumiere as Pyra finally sat down at the dinner table.

"Alright, dig in; hope it's alright," she said.

"I'm sure it will be wonderful," Volteer stated. Pyra only giggled and looked away bashfully with a hint of a blush visible from even under her red scales.

"Geez, they're acting like kids," Vyra whispered to Lumiere, who only nodded in response.

The rest of the dinner was thankfully silent, as everyone was too focused on eating Pyra's meal to say or even do anything else; it took a bit of effort on Lumiere's part just to remember how to breathe. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, everyone finished their meals and were scraping their plates clean of any trace of Pyra's phenomenal cooking.

"My my, Pyra!" Volteer exclaimed. "That meal was most satisfactory!"

Pyra giggled again and said, "Thank you, Volteer."

Lumiere and Vyra both rolled their eyes at their childish antics and picked up their plates with one forepaw, walking to the kitchen and putting them in the sink. They were about to walk back upstairs, and were actually halfway up the staircase before Pyra called after them.

"Where are you two going?" she asked. "You still have to train with Volteer."

Both of them sagged at this and trudged back downstairs to meet with the two of them.

"Great, as if you guys training me wasn't enough," Lumiere whispered to Vyra, eluding to his "training session" on romance. Vyra smirked, but other than that stayed quiet.

"Well, now that you two are down here, we can begin," Volteer said rather loudly. "Now Vyra, I want you to concentrate electricity into a ball like this." The Lightning Guardian opened his maw and released a bit of electricity, which then, much to the kids' surprise, started to take the shape of a sphere right in front of their eyes. Pyra was just standing there with an amused expression.

"B-but I never learned how to control my element like _that_!" Vyra whined.

"Now now, no complaining, young one," Volteer chided. "Just empty your mind, and let your instincts do the rest."

Vyra looked troubled to say the least, but finally sighed and closed her eyes, focusing on only the energy within herself and reaching a state of subconsciousness.

 _'Must be because she meditates so much; maybe that'll help me when my turn comes up…'_ Lumiere thought.

Vyra's mouth opened without her knowing it, and lightning started to slowly flow out of her maw like water, forming a shape that was reminiscent of a ball. Though it only lasted a few seconds, Lumiere was beyond amazed.

"Wow…" he whispered.

Vyra opened her eyes, and the ball of lightning instantly dissipated along with her focus. She took a large breath, as if the task took a lot out of here, and looked around the room with wide eyes of wonder.

Volteer looked proud and said, "Wonderful job, Vyra; if you practice, you shall get that technique down in no time at all." Then, in the moment Lumiere had been dreading, Volteer turned to him. "Now, let's work more on channelling _your_ power."

Lumiere audibly gulped, but Vyra put a reassuring wing over his shoulders, and he relaxed a little bit. He looked to her and smiled appreciatively. "Hey, it's alright, little bro; you got this," she said gently.

"Thanks," Lumiere replied before turning back to Volteer.

"Now, since Terrador is not here, I am taking over his technique in discovering one's element," he said. "Clear your mind as I told Vyra to do," he instructed, which Lumiere did without hesitation. "Now, reach deep within yourself; try and see if you feel something within your soul." Lumiere only nodded to signal that he did indeed feel something. He heard Volteer take something and put it on the ground in front of him. "Now, just let it out in a small amount."

Lumiere reached within himself and grabbed ahold of whatever was resonating deep within the recesses of his mind, trying to pull it to the forefront. But this energy was feisty and wouldn't go without a fight. Lumiere struggled with the energy for a minute before he finally got a firm grip on it, and he pulled it forward and to his maw. Though he kinda wished he didn't. When he opened his maw, he heard not only the roar of fire, but the crackling of lightning, and he was knocked back a couple feet from the intensity of his blast.

He cut off his power after a split second and blurted out, "OHMYGODWHATTHEHELLWASTHAT?!"

Everyone there just stood dumbfounded and stared at the white dragon, who didn't take notice until after a few seconds when his brain had slowed down enough to process the outside world again.

"What was that?" he asked in a shaky voice.

He looked to whatever Volteer had set out in front of him and saw the old Guardian cowering behind the remains of a wooden dummy with wide eyes of awe.

"Ancestors…" Vyra whispered.

"What? What happened? What did I do?" Lumiere asked impatiently.

Volteer finally got his bearings about him and pushed the dummy to the side, though it disintegrated into a pile of black ash before it even his the ground.

"Young dragon," he started, "you just breathed two elements at once."

"I _what_?!" Lumiere yelped in sheer disbelief. "No, there's no way! Even if I was able to wield two elements, I couldn't _possibly_ breathe them _both_ at the _same time_!"

"Well you just did," Pyra stated simply.

Everyone stared at Lumiere and the pile of ash that used to be a wooden battle dummy in disbelief, not knowing what to do now that they knew why Lumiere was having so much trouble.

Finally, Lumiere broke the deafening silence by asking, "So what elements did I breathe?"

Vyra sighed and said, "White fire and red lightning."

"Red lightning? But… red lightning was wielded by…" he started, trailing off mid sentence, remembering the stories of arguably the greatest Guardian besides Ignitus himself to walk the Dragon Realm.

"Master Tempest…" Volteer finished.

"And white fire was wielded by…."

"Chryosis," Pyra finished. She sighed and said, "Young one, are you _positive_ that you don't remember anything about your past?"

"Yes, one-hundred percent!" Lumiere claimed with wide eyes.

"You're sure?" Pyra pushed. "Because to wield elements of those color are special by themselves, but to wield them both…."

"A new age may be about to begin…" Volteer whispered.

Lumiere looked down at the ground with a shaky breath. "I'm dangerous…" he said lowly.

"Lumi…" Vyra tried, moving closer to him.

"No, don't touch me!" Lumi shouted fearfully, backing away. "I'm gonna end up hurting you!"

"Lumi, you're not gonna hurt me," Vyra tried again, taking another step towards the male.

Lumiere's breathing got faster, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He had the ability to hurt everyone he ever loved… including Jinx. He couldn't be around people….

"No… I can't be around anyone… I love you all…" he whispered.

"Lumi…?" Vyra asked quietly, worried and scared about what her brother was going to do.

"Don't come after me."

Lumiere held back the tears as he ran past everyone there, quick as the lightning he was able to harness. He heard everyone calling his name, but he just ran out the front door, not even bothering to close it like he usually did. He didn't dare turn to look back; he loved his family too much, and if he turned around… if he faced his family one last time… he might not have been able to leave. And he had to leave… to protect them… to protect them all. He raced down the street, which was thankfully empty because of the late hour, not having a set destination in mind. His wings flapped on their own and carried him into the sky, though he almost fell a couple times when he was really low. He managed to pull through, however, and fly using his instincts, reaching out to the elements and using the wind to pull his sleek body faster.

 _M_

 **See why I put this in phases? Shit's about to get a whole lot more complicated. Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	9. Find the Light

_M_

"Lumi!" Vyra shouted, the tears streaming down her face. "Lumi, please come back!"

"Lumiere!" Pyra shouted with even more tears running down her face.

Volteer only stared at the sky with eyes wide in guilt and surprise, his mouth agape in the same fashion. He turned when he heard the sounds of footfalls on the ground behind them, and saw all of Lumiere's friends and a couple more students from the academy who had heard all the commotion. At the front of the group… was Jinx.

"Volteer? What happened?" she asked. "I heard Vyra shouting, and…."

In a flash, said dragoness was crushing Jinx in a bear hug. "HE'S GONE!! HE'S GONE!! I LET HIM GO!! I let him go…" she whispered before breaking down with her forelegs wrapped around Jinx's neck.

"What?" Jinx asked, confused, trying to pry the lightning dragoness off of her when the rest of the Guardians came running down the street.

"What happened?" Terrador demanded.

Volteer looked away and quietly said, "I brought out his elements…." His voice was laced with a grief and sadness he hadn't heard even at Ignitus's funeral, but he also heard guilt above all else.

"Elements?" Cyril asked, stepping past Vyra and Jinx, the former still sobbing loudly and crushing the latter.

"Yes…" Volteer started. "He breathed… red lightning and white fire… at the same time…."

"He _what_?!" Cyril exclaimed.

"But it's impossible to breathe two elements at the same time," Terrador exclaimed, "much less the two most powerful elements of the most powerful colors that only occur in descendents of Master Tempest and Chryosis!"

"I told him… he might start a new age…" Volteer said in a grief-stricken voice, trying his damnedest to hold back his tears in front of his fellow Guardians, though Pyra didn't hesitate to flood the streets with her tears as she crushed Volteer in a bear hug like her daughter was still crushing Jinx.

"What'd he do?" Spyro asked curiously, though some worry was evident as well; if both Pyra _and_ Vyra were crying, what Lumiere had done couldn't have been good.

"He… flew away with the power of wind…" Volteer replied quietly. "We… lost him before any of us got off the ground…."

Only after that statement did Volteer allow a single tear to leak from his left eye and drop to the streets below as Lumiere's adoptive family sobbed loudly into the necks of Volteer and Jinx respectively, though both were now resisting the temptation to let their tears out as well and return the bone-crushing hugs.

"He didn't even get to ask Jinx out…" Spyro whispered to Cynder, who nodded sadly in response. Thankfully, the fear dragoness didn't hear either of them, as all she was focused on was the sky above… and where Lumiere might have flown off to.

 _M_

 _'What the hell are you doing?!'_ cried a voice in Lumiere's mind.

 _'I had to, Kirk… I didn't want to hurt them…'_ Lumiere replied in a sad voice, now letting his tears run free, though he never slowed down until then; by then, he wasn't sure if he was a couple miles from Warfang, or a couple _hundred_ miles from Warfang, and the way he saw it, he didn't care as long as it was _far_.

 _'C'mon, man, this is a_ fucking _overreaction, and you know it!'_ Kirk shouted back.

 _'It's not an overreaction, Kirk!'_ Lumiere yelled in his mind, the sobs escaping his throat as he landed in a cave in a desolate forest.

 _'Then why the hell didn't you stay?! You could've worked it out, found a way to control your powers!'_ Kirk shouted. _'It's not like you hurt someone!'_

 _'I nearly killed Volteer and reduced a dummy to nothing but ash!'_ Lumiere replied, walking over to a cave wall.

 _'It's Volteer's fault for standing behind the dummy!'_ Kirk shouted.

Lumiere growled angrily between his sobs and slammed his head on the cave wall. "Get! Out! Of! My! HEAD!!" he yelled aloud, hitting his head on the wall with every word he uttered, though his knees failed him after and he fell to the ground with a _thud!_

"Well well well, lookie what we have here," said a dark, raspy voice.

Lumiere couldn't even find the strength to look up, and soon passed out as she saw a hooked hand pass in front of his vision.

 _M_

It had been four years since Kirk had rescued Dika from San Francisco, and things were going great between them. With the outside world… not so much, but they didn't let that get them down; they had each other, and that was what mattered to Kirk. Their friendship. He managed to beat up literally everyone else in his pack, becoming the leader and punishing anyone who hit on Dika, which happened anyways. He intervened for some reason until Dika said she didn't mind, after which he let everyone say what they wanted to her since she denied them anyways.

At the moment, they were both out at night in their hut, lying on their backs and looking over the stars; Dika had learned almost every constellation in the night sky thanks to Kirk, and she loved the overall beauty of it. While atomic fire decimated the surface, it had somehow cleansed the atmosphere, so a cloudy night was actually pretty rare. Hence why Kirk and Dika stargazed almost every night.

"Pretty, aren't they?" Kirk asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah… they are," Dika replied dreamily.

They were both on the porch floor, splayed out so that their stomachs faced the heavens. They enjoyed nights like these when Kirk wasn't taking care of business in his pack or Dika wasn't being lured by some creepy perverts.

"Did I ever tell you my dad used to take me stargazing all the time?" Kirk asked.

Dika giggled and said, "Yeah… like a thousand times."

Kirk chuckled and said, "I also took my buddies out to stargaze out in the woods every once in a while when the smog wasn't as bad as it usually was."

"You told me that a thousand times too, Kirk," Dika laughed.

Kirk laughed as well and watched as a shooting star shot across the sky.

 _'I wish I had a legacy,'_ he thought to himself, before saying out loud, "Do you know what shooting stars are?"

"Balls of rock and ice flying across the vast expanse of space at a million miles an hour," Dika stated matter-of-factly.

"No, I mean… do you know what they mean symbolically?"

"Oh…" Dika replied. "No, I don't think you ever told me."

Kirk smiled and said, "They say that when a shooting star crossed the sky, and you make a wish, that wish will come true."

"Oh. Well I wish -" Dika began.

"Don't tell me your wish, otherwise it won't come true!" Kirk interrupted with a laugh.

"Oh, okay," Dika replied with a laugh of her own.

She smirked devilishly as she moved towards Kirk's idle form, before flopping on top of him. Kirk wheezed out a laugh and patted Dika's sleek form on top of him.

"Y'know, you're getting heavy," he joked.

"Dragons can weight up to over two tons, by your world's standards," Dika replied with a smile.

"Well, you _definitely_ don't wanna do this when you're that heavy, then," he said.

"Who said I didn't?" she replied with a smile, making Kirk look towards her. "I mean, I know I _shouldn't_ , but that doesn't mean I wouldn't miss it. It's just another way of showing how much I love you."

Kirk's eyes widened at her sudden statement, though he waited for her to catch her slip-up. It didn't take long.

"Oh, shit…" she sighed, a massive blush appearing on her face and snout. "Sorry, Kirk… just pretend you didn't hear that."

Kirk blushed as well, but smiled despite himself and asked, "Why?"

Dika turned to him with surprised eyes, but even became even more shocked when Kirk leaned forward as much as he could and kissed her on the lips. Eventually, though, she relaxed and closed her eyes, basking in the bliss of her first kiss.

When they broke apart, Kirk sighed and said, "Sorry… guess that was a bit uncalled for…."

Dika only smiled devilishly again, making Kirk furrow his brow in confusion. "What?" he asked her before she pulled him into another kiss and shifted her body so that she was completely atop his own, caressing his shoulders as Kirk began to grope at her muscled flanks. When they broke apart again, Dika smiled at him again, though less mischievously.

"I love you, Kirk," she whispered.

"I love you too, Dika," Kirk replied.

Kirk pulled her into a third, more heated kiss, sensually caressing her body and asking for entrance to her mouth. She giggled and denied him as she ran her own paws over his body, asking for entrance into Kirk's mouth. He denied as well and even took it as far as to grope her thighs. Dika yelped in surprise as Kirk took his chance; he slid his tongue into her mouth and flipped her over so that he was on top. They only broke apart because their lungs were begging for air, but once they refilled their lungs with the precious gas, they got right back at it, breaking it once again as Kirk took his shirt off.

 _M_

"I can't find his scent!" Volteer called in a panicking voice.

"Keep looking!" Pyra demanded before getting back to trying to find Lumiere's scent again.

"I found something!" came Cyclone's voice.

Everyone turned and rushed over to him to examine what the wind dragon had found. Pyra worked her way through the crowd and up to Cyclone, who only handed her Lumiere's dirt-ridden pendant. Pyra broke down once again as she held the pendant close to her heart.

"I'm sorry, Pyra," Volteer said, putting a wing over her form.

"My baby…" she sobbed as she rocked back and forth on her hind legs.

Jinx was about to join everyone else in wallowing in self pity before she looked at the ground and realized something.

"Guys… where's the blood?" she asked.

"What?!" Toxia, who was right beside her, yelped in surprise.

"Think about it," she started as everyone turned to her, "if he was dead or something, surely there'd be at least a bit of blood, but there isn't a single speck of the stuff. Lumiere is still out there."

Her determination was enough for Pyra to stop her tears and sigh before saying, "She's right. Everyone! Look for my son's scent! I don't care how long it takes, we _are_ going to find him!"

Cynder stood back for a minute while everyone else started looking, and she was so caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't see a hooked hand come down on her head behind her, knocking her out cold. No one heard anything, so they didn't look to see Cynder getting pulled into shadow. It wasn't until five minutes after that Spyro noticed her sudden disappearance.

"Hey, guys? Has anyone seen Cynder?"

 _M_

"Ngh…" Lumiere grunted as he awoke.

A knocking sound on the bars of his cell told him he needed to wake up.

"Wake up, Lumi! You got another fight today!" the pirate jeered with a sinister smile.

Lumiere hesitantly complied, getting off the cot that had been his for the past two days, groaning all the while as his sore muscles protested. But he pushed through anyways; better than torture. He moved to the door as the pirate unlocked it and guided him to the battle arena in the middle of a desert.

He had accomplished his goal; he would never see any of his family ever again, so he couldn't ever hurt them. Sure, that sucked, but it was for their own safety. He also hadn't heard from Kirk at all, which, while the absence itself wasn't strange, Lumiere's mind felt a bit… emptier; he couldn't put his talon on it, but he figured Kirk had actually left.

When the blinding sun hit his eyes, he flinched as his eyes tried readjusting to the light. When it did, though, his breath hitched for a minute; thousands of pirates, criminals, low-lives, and merchants who worked outside the law were taking up every single seat in the arena that Lumiere was supposed to be fighting in that night. He shook his head though and put them all out of his thoughts, wondering who his opponent would be this time.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!" a voice announced. A voice Lumiere knew too well. A raspy, scratchy voice. The Announcer. "WELCOME TO THE FIFTH ANNUAL BLOODBATH!!" Everyone in the stands cheered and whistled while the Announcer kept going. "FOR OUR FIRST ACT, WE WILL BE PITTING TWO OF OUR CHAMPIONS AGAINST EACH OTHER!! GIVE IT UP FOR THE BIGGEST, THE BADDEST, THE ONE AND ONLY SCALLYWAG, UNDONTA AKENASI!!"

A huge, lumbering pirate with two swords strapped to his sides came jogging out of his prep cage, riling himself up for the battle.

"OUR NEXT CHAMPION MAY BE SMALL, BUT HE PACKS ONE HELL OF A PUNCH!! HE'S WHITE, HE'S RIGHT, AND HE'S MOTHERFUCKIN' BRIGHT!! GIVE IT UP FOR… LUMIERE!!"

Lumiere slowly walked out of the prep cage with his armor already strapped on and ready to go, but all he heard was booing and jeering.

"HE'S JUST A WHELPLING!!" a fat merchant yelled.

"JUST SIT ON HIM!!" a scrawny pirate yelled to Undonta.

Nevertheless, Lumiere, with his already-battered chrome armor with the symbol of Chyrosis pressed into the chestplate, slowly walked to the center to meet with his opponent; while Undonta may have been crazy on the battlefield, he was always humble, and Lumiere respected that.

"Good luck, Undonta!" Lumiere shouted over the crowd.

"You too, kid! May the best gladiator win!" Undonta replied, walking back to his space.

Lumiere smiled and walked back to his own space before the cannonfire signalled the start of the round. With a bellow, Undonta unsheathed his swords and immediately charged the white dragon, who simply flew over him and fired a flaming ball of electricity towards the pirate. Undonta dodged the fireball, but was thrown on his side by the blast, and he dropped one of his swords. The pirate grunted as he ran over to pick it up, but Lumiere landed and fired another electric fireball towards Undonta; not at him, but just enough to the right that it made him go flying another ten feet away from his other sword. Lumiere knew that the large pirate preferred to fight with both swords, and that taking one away would put him off balance, so Lumiere tried his hardest to keep Undonta away from his other sword, lest the pirate pick it back up and beat Lumiere _again_ ; if that happened, it would be the fourth time in two-and-a-half days that Undonta came out on top.

"Argh!" Undonta cried as he got frustrated and charged Lumiere with only one sword.

Lumiere smiled; with one sword, Undonta would be unbalanced, and it would be a reasonably easy win for Lumiere. Lumiere easily sidestepped Undonta and slashed with his tail blade at the pirate's leg, though he blocked it. Barely. Lumiere smiled knowingly and slashed at Undonta's leg and arm in quick succession, making the pirate even more unbalanced, so Lumiere was able to quickly sweep his legs out from under him with a tail swipe. He slammed the ground with his tail, but Undonta rolled out of the way before the tail could come down and slashed at Lumiere's chest. The male blocked it with his right bracer and slashed at Undonta with his left paw. The pirate stumbled back from the attack and had trouble blocking another attack from Lumiere, who slashed at him with alternating paws. As a result from the well-coordinated attack, Undonta backed up even more and tripped over his own feet. Lumiere saw this and moved to pin Undonta. Unfortunately for him, the pirate wasn't giving up easy and slashed at his exposed face, making the male flap his wings to keep himself from running into the blade. Undonta then used his size to his advantage and tried to tackle Lumiere, who was still flapping his wings, trying to get away from the pirate.

"Get back here!" Undonta roared.

"Nope!" Lumiere yelled back.

Lumiere darted back when Undonta slashed at him and fired another electric fireball, though this time directly at the brute of a pirate, making him dodge and hit the ground, only to go flying once again, landing harshly on his left arm. It wasn't his sword arm, though, so he was still in the fight, as he was still more experienced with his right hand. Lumiere fired another of his flaming electric balls, though the pirate stood strong and ducked intead, making the fireball hit the invisible barrier protecting the spectators, who screamed in glee as Lumiere's fireball shattered against the force field. Lumiere sighed before deciding to hell with caution; he leapt at Undonta and slashed at his stomach, but making sure to be quick enough so that the pirate couldn't touch him. How did he do that, you may ask? As soon as he slashed, he used his newfound electric powers to move like a lightning bolt, and in a flash of red, he was right behind Undonta.

"Hey," he said to get the pirate's attention.

Undonta turned around, only to have his sword knocked from his hand by a small fireball Lumiere fired. Undonta snarled and leapt for Lumiere, but the little white dragon was quick and leapt out of the way. Undonta landed in the sand, and before he could get back up, Lumiere pinned him with his tail around his legs and his forepaws holding down the pirate's arms.

All Undonta could do at that point was smile and say, "I submit."

Lumiere let the man go and let him up without a fuss, though once he did so and sat back on his haunches, Undonta lifted Lumiere's right paw up into the air. The crowd cheered at the unexpected act of civil sportsmanship, and Lumiere only smiled as the crowd threw roses at his feet. When Undonta let his paw go, Lumiere roared at the sky and expelled a long stream of white fire and red electricity from his maw drowning out a lot of the other cheers. Lumiere cut off the stream and was immediately ushered by armed guards back into his prep cage.

"WOW, WHAT A MATCH!!" the Announcer exclaimed. "LUMIERE WINS THAT ROUND, MEANING HE GOES TO THE FINALS AGAINST OUR OTHER FINALIST!!"

 _'Finals?'_ Lumiere asked himself. _'I didn't even compete to get into the semifinals! This must be some kind of mistake.'_ He stopped for a minute before sighing. _'Oh well; guess I better train up while I can.'_

The guards ushered him back through the prep room, though he swore he saw a flash of black scales in the opposing prep room just as Ska Akenasi, Undonta's brother, came in and nodded his congrats to Lumiere, who only nodded back before the Announcer even began to speak again. The guard closed the door, blocking out all noises from the outside world.

"Go train for a half-hour; finals are in forty-five minutes," the guard said, leaving Lumiere to go find the training room once again.

Lumiere sighed and swifty walked towards the training room so he could get in a couple extra minutes of training to beat whoever this finalist was. If he had black scales like Cynder, this wouldn't turn out good; he hadn't at all learned to to harness the Light, and he didn't even know if he _could_ harness the Light.

Once he entered the training room, he was greeted by a wave of congratulations and praise as the rest of the gladiators came up and patted him on the back.

"Thanks guys," he said, "but I didn't win the finals yet; I just wanna get in a couple more minutes."

The others all nodded and murmured their agreements and backed off, leaving Lumiere to do as he pleased. The white dragon walked up to a random dummy and started beating the hell out of it, just so he could practice a couple elemental combinations he'd been working on, like conjuring up fire and electricity in his forepaws to throw them like bombs, or lightning-and-fire tornadoes, since he could harness the wind as well.

Unfortunately for him, that half-hour passed faster than he would've liked it to, and he was quickly ushered out of the training room, with a couple "good lucks" and "go get 'em, tigers" muttered, shouted, and called to him. Once he entered the prep cage to prepare for fifteen more minutes, he quickly realized that this would be no normal match; the air was cold and heavy, as if it were weighed down by something dark. This _had_ to mean another dragon, specifically a shadow dragon like Cynder, only… darker and without any means for mercy, since this place didn't exactly make him a better person.

Again, the time passed more quickly than he would've wanted to, and the fifteen minutes was up in the blink of an eye.

"You're up, Lumi," a guard said just as Lumiere got on his helmet, since last time that didn't go as well as he wanted.

"NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!" the Announcer said. "HE'S WHITE, HE'S RIGHT, AND HE'S MOTHERFUCKIN' BRIGHT!! GIVE IT UP FOR LUMIERE!!"

This time, the crowd cheered for him as he stepped out of the prep cage, silver armor covering most of his body except his wings, tail, horns, eyes, and muzzle. This time, the sign of Chryosis glowed red as he fed a bit of electricity to it, making the crowd's cheering get louder until he couldn't hear anything else above the racket.

"NOW, MEET THE COMPETITION!! SHE'S DARK, SHE'S EVIL, SHE'S A LEAN MEAN KILLIN' MACHINE!! GIVE IT UP FOR THE TERROR OF THE SKIES… CYNDER!!"

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	10. Complications

**I'm feeling generous today, so you get two chapters today. Lucky you.**

 _M_

Lumiere's eyes widened as he saw Cynder step out of the prep cage as the crowd threw jeers and insults in her direction, some of them being really nasty. Even still, Cynder tried to hold her head up high, even though Lumiere could tell she was nervous and unconfident.

"Fuck her up, Lumi!" one of his fellow gladiators yelled.

He turned to the gladiator and said, "I used to know her; she's part of the reason I'm here."

"Yeah, ain't ya pissed at her?!"

"I left Warfang upon my own accord to protect her and all my other friends and family."

A look of realization crossed the gladiator's face, and he backed off instantly, letting Lumiere do whatever he wanted to do. He turned back to Cynder to see her with a happy expression on her face.

"Lumi?!" she exclaimed above the cheering.

"Oh shit…" Lumiere muttered.

"Ancestors, we've been looking everywhere for you, Lumi! You had us worried sick! Why did you leave?!"

"BECAUSE I'M DANGEROUS!!" Lumiere roared. The crowd started cheering at his sudden outburst, but Cynder's face contorted into one of shock and fear, and she backed up a bit. Lumiere felt bad about making her fear him, but if his plan to spring her out of here was going to work, he would have to make himself seem like the people's champion he was.

"L-Lumi…?" Cynder asked, backing up more as Lumiere advanced on her slowly, sizing her up.

"C'mon, you 'fraid?!" he taunted, using gladiator lingo.

He roared and charged her, but what he didn't expect was to be thrown back ten feet by Cynder letting out dark energy. He landed painfully on his back, knocking the wind out of him, but when he looked at Cynder, he smirked when he saw an expression of pure fear on her face. He shook off the hit he took and charged her again, this time actually knocking her to the ground.

"Good to see you again," he whispered, "but you shouldn't have come for me."

She looked at him in shock, but played along with it and tackled him to the ground, holding him down with her weight. "Everyone misses you, y'know," she said, "even Jinx."

Lumiere swept her legs out from underneath her and slammed her down on the ground at the mention of the fear dragon's name, but it was just out of instinct. "Look, I'm gonna spring you outta here; we just gotta buy some time."

"Done," she said, expelling even more dark energy and obscuring everyone's view of them.

He let her up with a sigh and stood back to look her over. She looked better than he did, that much was for sure; not much was visible on her bare hide besides a few cuts and bruises, contradicting his multiple cuts, bruises, gashes, and even missing scales under his armor.

"Did you see that big building around the center of the stands?" Lumiere asked Cynder.

"Yeah," she replied instantly.

"That's where the Announcer is; we gotta take him out if you got a chance at getting out of here."

"But what about you?" Cynder asked with a sad expression.

"Just forget about me, alright?" Lumiere responded. "I'm not coming back, no matter what you tell me."

"But what about Vyra, and Pyra, and Jinx…?"

"Look, it's not that I want don't want to go back; I want nothing more than to go back to Warfang and live a normal, happy, long life until I die in my sleep of old age."

"Then -" Cynder began.

"But as much as I want to, I _can't_ ," Lumiere said, cutting her off.

"Why not?"

Lumiere sighed and said, "I'm too dangerous; I couldn't forgive or live with myself if I accidently killed anyone… especially one of you guys."

"Lumiere, you realize that you can learn to contain your power? You've been doing so around me for this long," Cynder said encouragingly.

"But what happens when I _can't_ control it?" Lumiere asked. "What happens when it's too much for me to handle? Hmm? What, I just say 'I'm sorry' and everything's all good again? No… no, if I killed someone, I wouldn't be able to live with myself; I'd walk around with the guilt weighing me down, and if I were to start a new age…." Lumiere sighed before continuing. "Do you know when a new age starts?"

"When a new Chronicler is chosen," Cynder replied, confused.

"Or when a cataclysmic event ends life as we know it; from everyone else's telling, a new Chronicler had been chosen four years ago, and an age lasts a few millenia, so it sure as hell won't be that."

"Lumiere, do you have any idea how long dragons live?" Cynder asked. "We can live up to seven _thousand_ years! That's a long time, Lumiere!"

"And your point is?"

"My point is, in a couple thousand years, you could be appointed the new Chronicler by Ignitus, and no world-ending event will have to kill anyone!"

"That's _if_ , Cynder! That's a _huge_ fucking _if_!" Lumiere replied. Cynder didn't respond, but Lumiere shook his head and sighed. "Look, if we weren't pressed for time before, we sure as hell are now; we have to get to the Announcer."

Cynder only nodded sadly as Lumiere bounded out of the ring and into one of the prep cages. "C'mon, hurry up!" he called.

Cynder sighed and closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears from welling up inside of them. What was she supposed to tell everyone when she met up with them again? That she let Lumiere stay and fight for the rest of his days because he didn't want to come with her? Because he labelled himself as a threat?

"Cynder!"

Cynder opened her eyes and bounded after Lumiere, who was moving through the halls at lightning speed. As soon as they were out of the prep cage, Cynder let her hold on the shadow go. They heard the Announcer scream for blood just as they ran into a couple guards.

"Fellas," Lumiere said, quickly sending jolts of lightning into the ground through his forepaws, aimed towards the guards, who spasmed and fell to the ground as soon as the lightning reached them. They came across another guard, who ran away after he saw what Lumiere did to his comrades. Lumiere and Cynder chased after him, since they had to go that way anyways, but ran into probably three dozen guards, all with their weapons raised in case either of them tried anything.

"Don't move a muscle," Lumiere muttered to Cynder.

"Duly noted," Cynder replied.

"The Announcer wants a couple words with you," the lead guard said as a couple more came up behind them and shackled them. Cynder fought fiercely, but Lumiere complied and let them chain his legs and arms together while holding his muzzle shut and tying it with a rope. They did the same to Cynder, who managed to only scratch one guard before she was fit to take to the Announcer. Lumiere followed without question, but Cynder had to be dragged, since she was fighting against her restraints and letting out muffled screams. It brought tears to Lumiere's eyes to see his friend like this, but he knew that he would be in enough shit and already ran the risk of execution, which was something that he heard wasn't fun.

"Let me go!" Cynder yelled, though it was muffled because of the makeshift muzzle around her jaw, aka the rope. Two guards carried her the rest of the way while Lumiere simply followed the leader to what might be his death.

They walked a bit with the guards until they entered the building they were supposed to, right as the Announcer got up from his seat. The muscular pirate was staring at them with his one eye, since the other one was covered by an eyepatch.

"These are the troublemakers?" he asked the lead guard.

"Aye, sir," the guard answered as the other guards roughly dropped Cynder.

"So, I'm under the assumption you two know each other?" the Announcer asked, brandishing his golden hook that took the place of his left hand.

Lumiere nodded, but Cynder still struggled.

"You might not wanting to be doing that, sweetheart," the Announcer said to her. "My two best fighters, my prized champions, have ruined the Bloodbath and tarnished my reputation.

Lumiere sighed and cast his eyes down.

"Oh, now you feel bad?" he asked. He gestured to the lead guard and said, "Take off that stupid rope; I trust he knows better than to speak rudely."

The lead guard nodded and slid the rope off of Lumiere's muzzle, but he kept silent and his eyes cast downward. "Well? Answer my question," the Announcer said, taking a couple steps forward.

Lumiere sighed again and said, "I just didn't want her stuck here."

"So you two were going to escape?"

"No… just her; I was gonna help her escape… but I was gonna stay…."

"Do you really like fighting that much?" the Announcer asked with a toothy grin.

"No… I just don't want to hurt my family."

"How so?" the Announcer asked, squinting now as if to see through some kind of illusion.

"I… I have more power than I've shown you… and I don't want hurt anyone if I lose control; the battlefield is the place to be for me."

"Then why not join the Warfang Regime?"

"That's too close to family."

The Announcer hummed and turned around to watch the ongoing battle, but he wasn't really focused on it; he was more focused on something else on his desk.

"Do you remember what we first told you both the moment you woke up?"

Lumiere gulped fearfully and said, "You disobey, you lose an eye."

"Exactly," the Announcer said, turning around with a napkin cleaning his claw. "You know, no one had ever survived this… procedure, but I'm willing to bet you two will be different."

Lumiere turned to see Cynder staring with fearful eyes at the Announcer's hook, quietly whimpering and struggling even more against her bonds. When the Announcer approached her, Lumiere could only watch as she tightened her eyes as much as she could, until he could take it no more.

"Wait!" he shouted.

The Announcer stopped dead in his tracks and turned around slowly. "What did you say?" he asked slowly.

"Don't do this to her; I couldn't live with myself if she died because of something I did." He took a deep breath before saying, "Instead of us each losing an eye… take both of mine."

Cynder gasped at what Lumiere was saying and shaking her head furiously. But the Announcer smirked and said, "Very well. It would be interesting to see what you do in the ring without sight."

Lumiere smiled and nodded sadly, "It'd be one hell of a challenge."

The Announcer turned around fully and walked towards Lumiere before taking the white male's head in his right hand. He held the hook over each eye, as if contemplating which eye to tear out first. Lumiere held back his tears and a sob, instead letting out a shaky breath. The Announcer smirked again before slowly moving the hook towards his left eye.

But he was stopped when he heard someone roar, "GET OFF OF HIM NOW!!"

The Announcer's eyes went wide as he was blown away by a fireball. Lumiere turned to see who had fired it and cursed.

"Lumiere!" cried Vyra, embracing him in a hug and crying into his shoulder as the others watched the guards.

Lumiere hesitantly returned the hug as Spyro untied Cynder.

"Who did this?!" he roared angrily, holding the ropes in his shaking forepaw.

"The guards," Lumiere replied simply, looking at the fuming purple male.

Spyro turned to him and immediately stopped shaking.

"Yeah. It's me," Lumiere said just as his mother walked in.

"Lumiere!" she cried, nearly jumping on him and embracing him and Vyra in a bone-crushing hug while sobbing happily at having her family reunited.

But Lumiere shook them off and turned his back to them so he wouldn't have to see their faces and jump back in the hug.

"No, Lumi! Please, don't go!" Vyra shouted.

Lumiere finally mustered up enough self-will to turned and face her, looking into her bloodshot purple eyes. "When's the last time you slept?" he asked her.

"The last time anyone slept was two days ago," came the voice of Toxia.

Lumiere turned to face her and saw everyone standing there, welcoming Cynder back, but still keeping most of their attention on him… including Jinx, whose eyes were least bloodshot and the only one who didn't have streaks running down her face. Lumiere turned away with a frown on his face as he took off his helmet.

"I told you not to come for me," he said.

"W-we had to!" Pyra sobbed as she tried to approach him.

Thankfully, Lumiere didn't back away and allowed her to run her forepaws over his armor.

"Here, take this off," she said, pulling the straps that held his armor together.

"No don't -"

His armor fell to the ground with a loud, metallic thud, and just about everyone there let out a gasp at Lumiere's battered state. He looked at them all with tired eyes and turned away, not wanting them to see him as weak.

Pyra sobbed loudly and crushed Lumiere in a bear hug. "MY BABY!!" she cried rocking him back and forth.

Lumiere tried to stop his own tears as he lay helpless in the arms of his mother, but couldn't stop a couple from slipping out and onto her scales. He hugged her back with all his might, knowing that he didn't get the chance last time, and may not get the chance next time. When she let him go, she pulled something out of a satchel that caught the light outside, and held it out to Lumiere. Lumiere looked down to see his pendant in her forepaw, riddled with dirt and grime, but he took it in his own forepaws anyways.

"Thanks, Mom," he said in a shaky voice.

"Lumiere, please… come back with us…" Pyra cried.

"Mom, I can't; I'm too dangerous," Lumiere replied, on the verge of tears.

"Yes you can, Lumi! You can control your powers if you just let us in!" Vyra cried, coming in and hugging him as well.

"But… if I lose control, and hurt one of you, then what?" he asked, choking on the word "hurt."

"We'll forgive you; your power is extremely high, but you _can_ control it!"

Lumiere let out a couple more tears, but relented and said, "Fine… I'll go back with you guys."

Pyra and Vyra both let out joyous sobs at hearing this and were beginning to cut off circulation to a few parts of his body because of how tight they were hugging him

"Guys… guys…! Crushing… me…! Can't… breathe…!" he tried.

They let him go, allowing the blood to flow freely in his body once more and his breath to return to his lungs.

"Thanks guys," he panted, making everyone laugh through their tears.

"Lumiere?" asked a quiet voice.

Lumiere turned to see Volteer standing there in front of the other two Guardians, both of whom looked extremely relieved. Volteer, however, looked sad and guilty at something.

"I… owe you an apology," the Lightning Guardian said. "I shouldn't have said what I did; we don't at all know the extent of your power, or if you could indeed start a new age. I'm sorry I burdened you with what might be false knowledge."

Lumiere smiled and said, "It's fine; everyone makes mistakes… even the seemingly-benign Volteer."

Everyone there gave another watery laugh, and they all started to walk outside. They were stopped by a couple more guards, but all were quickly dispatched by one of the Guardians or Spyro. The rest just moved out of the way or went about their business like the company of dragons wasn't there. When they finally opened the door to the outside world, they all padded outside and bounced around like joyous hatchlings, all except the Guardians. But just then, a raspy voice came from behind them.

"I'm guessing you don't know about the Catacombs, then," said the Announcer.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but the Announcer pressed a button on some kind of controller, opening four sets of trapdoors beneath them. The Guardians simply flapped their wings and avoided falling in, but the kids weren't so lucky; they were taken by surprise and fell in before they saw the light above them fade, signalling the trapdoors had closed, and they were consumed by the darkness that was the Dark Catacombs.

"What have you done?!" Terrador yelled, but all he got in response was maniacal laughter.

They all snarled, but Pyra took the initiative to actually do something and stalked toward the laughing pirate.

"Pyra!" Cyril said, "Don't do anything brash!"

Pyra ignored him and, quick as a snake, impaled the pirate's head with her tail, staining the yellow blade with his blood. He let out one last laugh before he fell dead. Only then did the enraged and fuming Fire Guardian turn her back to him to face her fellow Guardians.

"We have to find them," she said firmly with a fire of determination in her eyes.

The other three only nodded quickly with their eyes wide; this was a side of Pyra they had _never_ seen before, a side they didn't even know she had. And in truth… they were scared of her now.

"Come; let us find the exit," the female said commandingly.

The other three followed with slight hesitation and wariness, but followed nonetheless, away from the corpse that used to be the Announcer… and away from the entrance to the Dark Catacombs.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading and have a good day/night!**


	11. The Dark Catacombs

**Anyone who gets the Slipknot reference gets a cookie.** **So leave a review to get yours!**

 _M_

"Ow, you fell on my back…" groaned Ember.

"Ugh… get off…" Voltia mumbled.

"You're heavier than you look," Spyro joked.

The ten young dragons had landed in a doggy pile on a hard, stone surface in complete darkness; they couldn't even see each other's scales, even though they were lying on top of each other. They got off of each other one by one, Toxia first, since she managed to fall on top of the pile, until the mass of bodies left only Lumiere lying on the ground, unconscious from not only hitting his head on the floor, but the bodies falling on his head afterward.

"Can _someone_ here _please_ give us some light?" asked Toxia.

Spyro, Ember, and Flame all breathed a bit of fire, revealing a dark, square room of gray, stone bricks and torches, which were lit by the little fireballs the three dragons unleashed. In reaction to its twins being lit, torches started to illuminate a dark hallway that eventually branched off into a t-junction.

"Guys?" Spyro asked. "Where are we?"

"The Dark Catacombs," Cynder muttered fearfully. "It's a place even _I_ wouldn't dare enter when I was working for he-who-shall-not-be-named."

They expected a witty remark from Lumiere or Cyclone, but when the room stayed silent save for the crackling of the torches, they looked at the two males and gasped when they saw that blood had accumulated on the floor around Lumiere's head.

"Oh Ancestors…" Vyra cried, running up to the white male's prone form, "please don't be dead Lumi!" She shook his body with his forepaws, crying his name so that it echoed in the corridors of the Catacombs. "Lumi, wake up!"

Lumiere groaned, making Vyra sigh loudly in relief. "Got a headache…" he muttered with some effort.

"You… uh…" Vyra said as Lumiere lifted his head off the ground.

"Why is the room spinning?" he asked, before turning to Vyra. "Vyra? Since when did you have a twin?" He turned to everyone and muttered, "Oh god, everyone's got twins…."

"Lumi, you're just seeing two of everything because you hit your head really hard," Jinx stated.

Lumiere looked at her and nodded. "Oh…" he said, closing his eyes in an attempt to ward of the pounding headache he currently had. "Guess that would explain the headache…."

"Yeah, you're… bleeding," Jinx said with some hesitation.

"Guess that would explain the iron taste in the left side of my mouth…."

Lumiere got his left foreleg under him and tried to put pressure on his right foreleg, but yelped when an unexpected jolt of intense pain traveled through it. Everyone gasped and took an unconscious step forward. Except Jinx; she took three steps, before getting her legs under control. Lumiere looked to see that his right foreleg was bent at an awkward position at the wrist joint, meaning it was probably broken, if not severely sprained. He growled and tried again, this time getting shakily to his feet and taking a step before falling back down. This time, Jinx didn't even hesitate to rush forward and help the white male, who took an uneasy breath as he tried to stand up again.

"Hey, woah woah woah, take it easy, big boy," Jinx said, grabbing Lumiere's uninjured paw and draping him over her body with a grunt from the unfamiliar weight on her back; while she may have helped with the reconstruction of Warfang, she wasn't the one doing a lot of heavy lifting, instead acting more as a bricklayer instead.

Lumiere sighed and said, "I can just walk on one foreleg if it makes it easier on you."

"No no, it's all good," Jinx groaned.

Lumiere sighed again at having to be helped, but nevertheless accepted the treatment and closeness with Jinx. He leaned his head into her back and took a quick whiff of her scent.

 _'Wow… she smells amazing…'_ he thought.

 _'I've smelt better,'_ said a voice in his head he hadn't heard in a couple days.

 _'Kirk, where the hell have you been?'_

 _'Just rearranging my thoughts; I think something big is about to go down, especially if you ended up in the Dark Catacombs, where Cynder said she never stepped foot in, even as the Dark Master's servant.'_

 _'This is bad, then, I take it?'_ Lumiere asked as the company of adolescent dragons started to go down the dark creepy hall that led to the rest of the catacombs.

 _'No, not bad… more like disastrous,'_ the man replied.

Lumiere sighed atop Jinx and replied with, _'So we pretty much know what to expect, right? This goes downhill fast, the world is put at risk, then it's up to all of us to bring it all back uphill.'_

 _'Listen, kid, I don't know what to expect; all I know is the world will change. And not exactly for the better….'_ Kirk sighed in his head. Lumiere was about to respond when Kirk said, _'I gotta go; see you around, kid.'_

Then, just like that, Kirk was once again gone from his mind. Lumiere sighed again, which unfortunately for him didn't go unnoticed by his peers

"Lumi?" Vyra asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… just my wrist," Lumiere replied.

"Great… the second time in a row I left my satchel of red crystals when we needed it the most…" Spyro muttered.

"Eh… I think I'll be fine," Lumiere replied. "We just need to get out of this maze, and we're good."

"But who knows how long _that's_ gonna take?" Toxia asked.

"I don't know, but as long as we stick together, and as long as we stay positive, we'll make it through this," Spyro said to everyone. "Right Cynder?"

"Right," the black-scaled female replied with a curt nod.

Lumiere and the others finally made it to the junction without a problem, but they faced the problem of knowing which way to go, a problem Cyclone verbally addressed.

"Um… which way do we go?" he asked.

"Try… try right; I heard that staying to the right in mazes will lead you out," Flame offered.

"No, I think we should go to the left," Ember argued. "The walls down there curve up slightly, which means it would lead to the surface."

"How can you tell?" Cyclone asked.

"I can see it," the pink dragoness replied.

"No, I think we should stick with Flame's idea; I heard the same thing, and doing so on paper usually did the trick," Voltia said.

"Yeah, same here," Spyro replied.

"But what about the curving upwards Ember was talking about?" Jinx asked, though it was strained because of the male on top of her.

"We're too far down for that to mean anything," Cyclone said.

"Slow and steady wins the race," Vyra replied, surprisingly taking a different side than her girlfriend, who turned to her with a perplexed expression.

Their disagreements go a little louder, but at the moment, Lumiere was lost in a trance; he was back in his second dream, heading down that hallway inside of Kirk's body.

"Go left," was all he said.

"What? Why? It's like Flame said, keep to the right!" Cyclone said.

"Because I saw these very halls in a vision. I don't think we're supposed to find the exit right away… something's about to happen." The white male somehow successfully got off of Jinx, much to his regret, and started to walk with his right forepaw held in the air. "Be on your guard; we don't know what's down here."

Spyro looked at Jinx, who only shrugged, as the others hesitantly followed Lumiere down the corridor. He had reentered his vision multiple times now so he could see the way.

 _'Left, right, right, left, straight, right, right, right, left, straight…'_ Lumiere thought as he led everyone slowly but surely through the Catacombs.

"Lumiere, are you sure you know where you're going?" Jinx asked him.

Lumiere turned his head to face her and stopped dead in his tracks, making everyone else stop as well. Jinx looked into his eyes and almost gasped when she saw that they were slightly glowing. He looked at her with eyes that seemed to bore into her soul and answered in a steely voice laced with determination, "Positive."

He turned back around and continued to walk, leaving Jinx standing there shocked until she fell in stride with Vyra and Voltia, whose tails were intertwined tightly in comfort of each other. She looked around her to see that almost everyone there had their mates right beside them to comfort each other; even Flame and Ember comforted each other, even though they weren't mates, despite them being well on their way to becoming mates. Everyone had someone to lean on… except Jinx. She took one look at Lumiere, however, and told herself that that would soon change.

 _'Right, straight, left, left, straight….'_ Lumiere ran over the directions in his head over and over again to make sure he wouldn't lead his friends down the wrong path.

But he was feeling a bit tired from the day's activities; that, and he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in a day, so his throat was parched and his stomach ached. Thankfully, they came to rest in a large cylindrical room that branched off into eight different hallways, including the one they emerged from. The room itself was covered with easels, canvases, and large, rectangular prisms with writing on the top of them. He knew instantly what they were.

As Cyclone went to push open one of the rectangles, he tried to yell, "No wait -"

Unfortunately, the wind dragon had already pushed the top off of the rectangle, revealing the white bones of a long dead wyvern. Everyone gathered around, and Ember gagged a bit from seeing the skeleton of a common ancestor.

"A shame what happened to them," Spyro whispered, remembering the stories he was told at school.

Wyverns used to be a strong race like the dragons, but they could not only control up to three or four elements, but they also controlled other elements that dragons couldn't, the four forbidden elements; light, shadow, magic, and reality. A wyvern born able to use two of the forbidden elements was exceptionally rare, and often times grew up to do great things. Wyverns and dragons did come from a common ancestor, however, and both appeared to flourish. Unfortunately, due to a dragon becoming corrupted by the forbidden elements, the wyverns were all wiped out, their customs, language, and everything else about them having been completely wiped off the face of the planet. But to see one now….

Lumiere took a look around the room, focusing on something other than the paintings, and saw ancient text written on the walls. Not just on a bit of the wall, or a specific part of the wall… all four walls were completely covered in ancient text that seemed… familiar.

"Where the hell did I come from?" he whispered to himself.

A specific painting of a wyvern caught his attention; the wyvern had white scales and red wing "arms," as well as red claws on its hind legs and the claws on its wings, along with the fins going down its back and horns protruding from its head. Its piercing crimson eyes seemed to follow Lumiere, even though the painting never moved, and its maw opened to reveal… red lightning and white fire.

All Lumiere could do was stare at what was a spitting image of him as an adult wyvern. He looked at the text underneath it and gasped at what he saw; not only did he understand it, but it mentioned him.

 _"Here lies Lumiere, our greatest warrior and savior from darkness. May his memory and legacy live on forever."_

"What?" Vyra asked him, seeing him eye the weird text underneath the picture.

"I can… I can read it…" Lumiere said quietly. "At least… this part I can… and I wish I wasn't able to…."

"Why?" Flame asked. "What does it say?"

Lumiere sighed and recited the words in the common tongue in a low, solemn voice that seemed to cut through everything. When he said his name, everyone in the group either perked up or immediately went to tears.

"Ancestors…" Spyro whispered.

Lumiere looked back to the wyvern that bore his name and let the tears roll down his face, but he didn't let out any sobs; the tears just… fell. For what reason, he didn't know, but the tears fell without restraint. He took a shaky breath and stood up on his hind legs, putting his left forepaw on the picture, before closing his eyes and putting his forehead against that of the wyvern's.

"Who am I…?"

 _"May his memory and legacy live on forever."_

 _'So much for memory,'_ Lumiere thought bitterly.

He sighed and said aloud, "This place may not be the best place to camp, but we need to rest and regain our strength; we have a pretty long way to go."

Everyone in the group nodded solemnly as they found a place to rest with their mates; everyone was so shaken, Cyclone and Toxia didn't even sneak off like they would have if the situation was a bit more… lighthearted. At least not right away.

"Cy?" the others heard Toxia ask.

"Hmm?"

"Look, this may not be the next time, but I… I need to relax," she replied.

Cyclone huffed and got up. "Alright; let's go," he grumbled.

After that, the large room was once again silent, save for the quiet moans of Cyclone and Toxia down the hall.

"I… I think I need to… relax too…" Cynder said to Sypro.

All the purple dragon did in response was get up and lead Cynder down another hallway. Their moans were heard not long after. And so, Voltia and Vyra walked down another hallway wordlessly, as did Flame and Ember, leaving Lumiere and Jinx alone in the room. Lumiere was still deep in thought, however, about things other than lust, like who he was and where he may have come from, why he didn't have his memory and his relation to the Lumiere in the tomb. Was he that very same Lumiere, just reincarnated in a dragon body? Or was that Lumiere a friend from thousands of years ago?

Lumiere sighed expansively as he searched in vain for an answer, trying to remember something, _anything_ , that was crystal clear about his past.

"Lumi?" Jinx asked.

All Lumiere did was look up at her with his tired, crimson eyes.

"Why don't you rest? You're the one who suggested it, after all."

Lumiere let out something between a sigh and a scoff and turned away.

"Lumiere, I can tell you're stressed out. How many times do I have to keep telling you? That's not who you are; _this_ is you. The caring, considerate, gentle, funny, strong, and admittedly handsome dragon sitting in this room next to me, not that old pile of bones in this tomb."

Lumiere turned to her when she said he was handsome, but he quickly looked away with a hint of a blush on his face.

Jinx sighed and said, "Look, I know you're down because of this; you keep forgetting, ' _I can read your mind.'_ But all this trying to remember, trying to figure out who you are… you don't need to do this."

Jinx got up from her spot and padded over to him, but instead of laying right next to him, she set herself down so that he was forced to hug her, and she him.

"Lumi, you have to understand; you have a new life; you don't need to go chasing after your old one. Who knows? It might just bring you more pain and burden than this one."

Lumiere didn't even register her words, his face now completely scarlet red. Now the lustful side of his mind awoke, along with the side that registered embarrassment. She was right; she could read his mind, and with the thoughts going through him mind at the moment, he wished she wasn't reading his mind at the moment.

 _'You hope for the worst of things at the worst of times, big boy,'_ said Jinx's voice in his mind, accompanied by an outward giggle. _'Besides, if you could actually do that, I wouldn't mind.'_

 _'Now isn't the time, Jinx,'_ Lumiere sighed.

Jinx sighed as well and said, _'Yeah, guess you're right. But… maybe we could do this?'_

Jinx, without hesitation, locked her lips with his in their first kiss. Lumiere was taken aback by the sudden move, his eyes wide and his face now the same color as Jinx's hide, but he eventually settled down and relaxed, accepting the sudden kiss.

When they broke it, Jinx looked him in the eye and said, "Lumiere… I love you with all my heart. I never want you to leave again… especially if you're leaving me."

Lumiere looked back into her eyes and said, "I promise… I will _never_ leave your side unless absolutely necessary."

Jinx smiled, as did he, and they kissed one last time before Jinx got up and curled into his side, being careful of his wrist.

"Goodnight," she said.

"Goodnight," Lumiere replied, smiling and kissing her neck before setting his head down and draping his wing over her so that she was protected from the cold. They fell asleep within minutes, pressed against each other happily, feeling the warmth that was each other's bodies.

"My Gem," Lumiere whispered before they drifted off to sleep.

 _M_

 **Finally, am I right? Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	12. Chronicles

_M_

 _"Where… where am I…?" Lumiere groaned as he opened his eyes._

 _"You are safe," said a voice._

 _"Who are you?" Lumiere asked._

 _The voice was silent for a moment before saying, "Many call me the Chronicler, but my friends call me Ignitus."_

 _"Ignitus?" Lumiere asked; he had heard stories, theories as to the old Guardian's whereabouts, if he was alive, etcetera, but to actually_ speak _to Pyra's predecessor and brother…._

 _Ignitus chuckled as the landscape began to reveal itself. Lumiere's vision began to clear up, and revealed a cave lined with bookshelves filled with books upon books of the like. He didn't know what the books were for, but he figured that if the Chronicler was at all as wise as Spyro said he was, then he would have to have all these books. Lumiere looked to see that his forepaw wasn't at all bent and that his scales weren't covered in the many cuts and bruises that he had acquired over the past two days. He stood up and walked around for a few seconds until he was interrupted by a voice from behind him._

 _"Going somewhere, young child?"_

 _Lumiere spun around and came face-to-face with a white dragon, like himself, though some of his scales were tinged blue, and he had a dark blue cape with a satchel on his side, a book already in his hands. As soon as Lumiere turned around, the Chronicler closed his book and let it float back to a shelf._

 _"Why do you think you're here?" the Chronicler asked._

 _"I… uh… I'm not sure," Lumiere admitted._

 _Ignitus chuckled and said, "Good; you have some humility. But you should still guess."_

 _"Um… to warn me about something…?"_

 _"Good guess… and completely spot-on," Ignitus replied._

 _"Really?" Lumiere asked with furrowed eyebrows, before sighing and saying, "I knew this wasn't good…."_

 _"Indeed, child; I know not the extent of your predicament, so I cannot warn you to be prepared for any one threat. I have seen not seen_ the _future… but many futures, with multiple dangers and risks you must face."_

 _"Wait… do you know anything about my past?" Lumiere asked, looking up to the ex-Guardian expectantly._

 _Ignitus sighed and said, "Lumiere."_

 _A book flew into his hands as he stood up on his hind legs; it was made of what looked like white leather with a red spine, as well as golden lettering on the side in the same ancient language in the room, though unlike under the picture of the wyvern, he couldn't understand that portion. Ignitus opened the book, but furrowed his brow as he flipped back through the book._

 _"Funny…" he muttered._

 _"What?" Lumiere asked._

 _"All of the pages prior to your waking outside of the Dragon Temple in Warfang are… completely blank; nothing but parchment." Ignitus, with a sigh, closed the book. "I know not why your book is blank; clearly it is not just merely amnesia. This has a bigger meaning; you didn't just show up in Warfang without reason. It's… as if the Ancestors wanted you there for some reason. I'm sorry, Lumiere, but I can't tell you anything about your past without the pages to your book."_

 _Lumiere sighed in defeat; this had been one of his best chances at finding out more about himself, but Fate was deciding to play some kind of cruel joke on him and hold it just beyond his reach._

 _"Young one, you must wake soon; I am only here to warn you about the coming dangers you might face… and to give you this."_

 _Ignitus held out his hand as the book flew away, and what Lumiere saw astonished him; sitting in Ignitus's paw was a pattern made out of white crystals… and it was a pattern he recognized, for he wore it on his neck._

 _"It is to help you embrace the light, as your Ancestors once did."_

 _"Do you know who my Ancestors are?" Lumiere asked._

 _Ignitus sighed and said, "I do not. But it is not my place to answer that question; you must find the answer for yourself."_

 _Lumiere nodded and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you…."_

 _"Likewise, young one," Ignitus replied warmly, and just for a minute, Lumiere could've sworn his scales turned red and gold for a split second, but it disappeared just as quick. "Go now, Lumiere, and follow the path you were meant to follow."_

 _Lumiere nodded and said, "I won't let you down… Uncle."_

 _Ignitus chuckled deeply and said, "I should hope not, young one; failure doesn't run in our family, my child."_

 _Lumiere chuckled as well, and he felt the cave fading away as he was brought back to the land of consciousness._

 _M_

"Lumiere! Lumiere, wake up!" called a voice.

"Mrgh… wha… what…?" Lumiere groaned, opening his eyes.

"Oh, he lives!" teased the voice.

Lumiere only groaned again and closed his eyes, trying to cuddle closer to Jinx… only to find she wasn't there.

"C'mon, lazy bones; I won't have my mate sleeping the day away like a bum," he heard Jinx say.

Lumiere opened his eyes again to meet Jinx's scarlet eyes, and saw that she was already wide awake and standing, ready to go.

"M-mate?" Lumiere stuttered in his tired haze, accidentally shifting his right paw. He hissed at the pain that shot up his arm and winced suddenly.

"You good to walk today?" Jinx asked him with worry evident in her eyes and tone. "Or do you want me to carry you again?"

"No, I think I'm good to walk; I could use a little help getting up, though…."

Jinx nodded and helped him up to his feet. Lumiere thanked her with a kiss to the cheek, to which the fear dragon only smiled lightly at. Lumiere smiled right back before looking to see that everyone had returned to the room sometime last night, and were all getting ready to set off again.

"Finally," Spyro huffed, looking at the two.

"What?" Lumiere asked.

Spyro smiled slyly and said, "It's about time you woke up."

Lumiere arched an eyebrow at the random statement, but he realized everyone was looking at him and Jinx with the same sly smile that Spyro wore, and he blushed lightly at the hidden meaning; essentially, Spyro was saying it was about time he got together with Jinx. Lumiere sighed and shook his head, but soon lifted it and hid his blush.

"Glad to see you didn't just leave me behind," he said, limping and now trying to remember which way to go.

"Well, of course we wouldn't leave you behind," Ember said. "We stick together, no matter what."

Lumiere smiled lightly at her encouraging words, but was also trying to reach the same state he had been in yesterday wandering the halls, trying to reenter his vision. It took a couple seconds, but he finally did so and received the directions.

"Alright, Operation Get-the-hell-out-of-this-maze is a go," Lumiere muttered quietly, drawing chuckles from everyone there.

Lumiere's eyes started to glow slightly like yesterday, but he realized something; all paths were now completely dark. He let out a little wisp of fire to the nearest torch, but only that one lit with white fire.

 _'Screw it,'_ Lumiere mumbled inwardly. "Hey, can someone carry that torch?" he asked.

"Sure," Cyclone replied, walking past Lumiere and grabbing the torch in one forepaw.

Toxia smiled at this as he walked back to her side, now having to walk awkwardly because of the torch in his left forepaw. And with that, they set off once again into the Dark Catacombs, following Lumiere and Cyclone, the Guide and Light.

 _M_

"Does your book have _anything_ to do with the Dark Catacombs?!" Pyra franticly asked a mole storekeeper back in Warfang.

"U-uh… y-y-yes it does! E-e-everything of the like!" the mole stuttered, squeaking out of fear.

"Please! I need it! My son and daughter a _stuck_ down there! Please! Give me your damn book! I'll do anything!"

While Pyra raged at the storekeeper, the three other Guardians stood back and watched with eyes of not only fear, but pity; to see the proud Guardian of Fire, the current Head Guardian, reduced to a begging female broke their hearts, and when she said "I'll do anything," Volteer almost let out a sob, instead turning his head away from the sorrowful scene.

Cyril turned to him and asked, "Volteer, do you not have anything to say to her?"

Since the company of young dragons got dropped into the Catacombs, Volteer had been very silent, and when he did speak, he never spoke in big, complicated words like the walking thesaurus he was, instead keeping his sentences simple and to the point with a downcast and melancholy tone. Such was this case.

"There is nothing anyone can say or do to calm her," Volteer replied simply, forcefully keeping his tears in.

Terrador sighed and said, "Volteer, you must say _something_ to her; you are the only one here she'd listen to."

"No… nothing is as important to her as her children," Volteer stated, choking on his words.

"Can you not offer her food, a drink, comfort, anything?" Cyril asked, feeling sorry for his fellow Guardians.

Cyril and Terrador both knew that Volteer had a thing for Pyra ever since they were all but children two hundred years ago, and even comforted him when she took on a mate. When he left, however, Volteer took his opening and wriggled into the female's life, slowly but surely becoming more than a friend. Volteer needed only to ask the question, and they would be together for life. But seeing her like this brought him back to his previous depressive state, where he would barely say anything unless he needed to, and where he would do nothing but sit there in his own thoughts; had no one been there, Cyril and Terrador dared to think that the Lightning Guardian would break down into tears at seeing the state of his desired mate.

"We can't do anything but wait out the storm," Volteer said in response to Cyril's question. He sniffled once and said, "Excuse me…."

Cyril and Terrador watched as Volteer trudged back down the street in the direction of his house, before turning back to Pyra only to see her holding the book she wanted close to her chest. But she took one look at the others and narrowed her eyes.

"Where's Volteer?" she asked with a dangerous edge in her voice. "I swear by my Ancestors' and brother's name, if the sniveling little snipe snuck off…."

"Pyra," Terrador tried gently, surprisingly gaining the female's attention. "Pyra, calm yourself; this isn't you, and you know it. We know you're hurting -"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A DAMN CLUE WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!!" Pyra roared at him.

Terrador looked at her with fearful eyes, but backed off and nodded, closing his eyes in apology and sadness.

"Now where. Is. Volteer?" Pyra asked in a shaky voice.

"Here," Volteer responded.

All three Guardians turned to see their fourth counterpart standing there with streaks running down his face, all leading back to his depressed, bloodshot eyes.

"Where did you go?" Pyra growled at him.

Volteer sniffled, but bit back the tears and a sob by saying, "I was just checking any other stores… in case you didn't get your book… I'm sorry if I worried you…." Volteer looked away from her piercing orange eyes and closed his own so the others wouldn't see the tears welling up in them.

"And what makes you think I wouldn't have gotten it? Are you unconfident in me?" Pyra asked, her voice like a sword's edge.

Volteer didn't respond, though only to avoid the sobs from escaping along with his voice. However, he did let a couple tears slip out from under his eyelids.

Pyra huffed in annoyance and asked, "Volteer, why are you crying?"

Volteer opened his eyes only to look into hers, but he looked away a moment later.

"Volteer," Pyra demanded.

Still, Volteer gave no reply to keep the sobs in.

"Volteer!" Pyra demanded, only louder. She gave a sigh a moment later and said, "Fine, if you don't want to answer to me, maybe you're not worth our time. Go back home and rest to your heart's content."

"No!" Volteer finally sobbed.

Pyra wheeled around and roared, "Excuse me?!"

"Pyra, your son and daughter aren't the only ones down there!" Volteer explained, now letting the tears run free. "My niece is among them as well! I couldn't bear it if anything happened to her! Especially if I wasn't there to help…."

At that point, Volteer gave up on looking strong and collapsed at the Fire Guardian's feet, basically bowing to her and pledging his everlasting allegiance to her, allowing sobs to rack his frame and the tears to hit the streets as bystanders gathered around.

Cyril and Terrador looked around at the growing crowd and cursed under their breaths.

"Folks, carry on your daily activities; nothing to see here!" Cyril shouted in as natural of a voice as he could manage.

There was a gentle murmur throughout the crowd, but they eventually dispersed, leaving only the four Guardians in the street. Volteer couldn't bring himself to look at Pyra while he showed weakness; he didn't want her to laugh or call him weak as many others had in his younger years, his over-eccentric behavior being a testament to the torment of other kids at school. He had eventually learned to ignore all of them and even proved them all wrong by becoming a Guardian, but if the one he regards the highest calls him such… there would be no return; he'd fall into such a depressive state, that he would most likely, morbid and sorrowful as it sounds, kill himself to stop the emotional pain.

"Volteer," Pyra said in an unreadable tone.

Volteer looked up at the Fire Guardian, thinking, 'This is it; I didn't even choose an heir….'

"Volteer, I'm… I'm sorry…."

Volteer's eyes widened as he saw Pyra release a few more tears on the ground under her with her head low. This time, it was her gaze that was on the ground shamefully. Volteer was shocked that this was the kind of reaction Pyra would give; he had expected to be berated and made fun of by one of his oldest friends, not to be apologized to.

"I… I was being selfish… I forgot your niece was down there too…."

Pyra had lost count of how many times she had broken down into tears in the past three days, but this time was different; instead of being tears of longing for her children and family, these tears were tears of guilt; she had never meant to lose control of her emotions, the one and only thing she swore to never do as a Guardian, especially since she hurt Volteer and probably alienated the other two Guardians.

"No…" Volteer spoke up, making Pyra look at him with tears in her eyes, "no, you had every right to be selfish; I couldn't imagine the torment you're going through."

Pyra smiled through her tears, as did Volteer; seeing her smile put a smile on his face, and likewise, seeing her cry brought him to tears.

"Thank you, Volteer… I don't know what I would do without you…."

Volteer's smile widened at these words, and he felt himself blush from afar, but he didn't register that, only the relief and somewhat-joy of having Pyra as a friend.

Volteer padded over to Pyra and gently wiped her tears from her face. Pyra leaned into his touch and unconsciously purred at the male's soft forepaw, before Volteer delicately took her muzzle in his hand to look into her stunning sunset-orange gaze. He closed his own eyes, and they touched their foreheads to each other in comfort. By now, both Terrador and Cyril had given the two Guardians their space and gotten ready for a sudden take-off.

Volteer pulled away and once again looked Pyra in the eyes and said, "Now let's go find your children."

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	13. Dark Side of the Light

_M_

Lumiere stopped suddenly in his tracks, making Jinx nearly bump into his hindquarters.

"What the hell, Lumi?" she asked. "Why'd we stop?"

But Lumiere didn't even meet her gaze; his eyes were too focused on the lettering above the brown oak door on the left side of the otherwise blank, gray hallway.

 _"Forgotten by the Ancestors."_

The language was that of the one in the tomb, but he had not a clue what is was called or how to decipher it completely; some words just… came to him, and those that didn't, he couldn't understand.

Jinx glanced above the doorway where Lumiere's eyes were pasted and saw the ancient text. "What's it say, Lumi?" she asked him, nervously yet curiously.

Lumiere took a deep breath and moved to the door without a word. Chances were, whatever was on the other side of this door was dangerous, and he had to be ready. Still silent, he carefully turned the steel doorknob that allowed him to access the room, and he flung the door open, ready for anything to come out and try to take his head off. But nothing came; nothing whizzed by his head, nothing attacked him, and it appeared as if the room was empty, save for a pedestal in the exact center of the room.

"What the hell is that thing?" Cyclone asked, still beside the white male with his torch in hand.

The object in question was a dark, pulsating orb suspended in the air by what appeared to be nothing, risen a couple inches off the smooth, stone surface of the pedestal. They all felt the room become heavy and cold, as if malice itself had conjured up out of nowhere and started to weigh the air down. Whatever the orb was, they knew it wasn't a product of good, but rather a dark product of evil.

"I dunno, but I don't like the way it pulsates like that," Flame said, shivering in response to the sudden drop in temperature.

Lumiere's expression and determination, however, remained unwavering, and he walked into the room without hesitation, while the others waited a few seconds before standing at his sides and behind him, trying to study the pure black orb.

"I think I know what this is," Cynder piped up suddenly. Everyone but Lumiere looked to her. "I think it's a physical embodiment of an element; I think I heard you-know-who talking about it once. He said that they have a sort of… sentience of their own, and that it's far beyond what we can comprehend. Each embodiment will show something different if someone happens to stumble upon it, relating to the element it embodies."

"Huh…" Spyro said, looking at his mate with wonder before turning back to the orb. "So what element is this then?"

"If I had to take a guess, I think it'd be Shadow," Cynder replied.

Everyone looked to Lumiere, whose eyes were pasted on the ball of pure Shadow. "Why'd you lead us here, then?" Voltia asked him.

"I… I just went along with my vision," Lumiere replied with his mouth agape. He stood on his hind legs and reached out with his left hand, as if to grab the orb.

"Woah, what the hell are you doing?!" Jinx yelled, grabbing his arm. "Are you crazy?!"

"Quite possibly," Lumiere replied, not making any effort to struggle against Jinx.

"You don't know for sure what that thing is! You don't know if it's dangerous! What if… what if you die?"

Lumiere sighed and said, "Who said that'll happen?"

"No one, but no one said it _wouldn't_!" Jinx yelled. "You said it yourself; we don't know what's down here! And we sure as hell don't know what this is!"

Lumiere sighed and put down his paw, appearing to be relenting. Jinx sighed as well and let go… just as Lumiere lunged forward and straight into the ball of Shadow.

Lumiere immediately felt intense pain pass through him, though it ended just as quick, and he was left feeling surprisingly empty.

"Uh.. guys?" Spyro asked, gesturing behind Lumiere.

Lumiere turned and saw nothing. Brow furrowed in confusion, Lumiere turned to face Spyro… only to see that no one stood there. He was alone.

 _Lumiere…._

Lumiere walked out of the room hesitantly, only to come out into his own room.

"Well?" asked a voice.

He turned to see Jinx on his bed, her legs spread to reveal her most intimate part to her mate. Lumiere cocked his head in confusion; just moments ago, he had been in the Dark Catacombs with his friends… so how the hell did he end up here?

"C'mon, Lumi. Whatcha waiting for?" Jinx asked seductively.

"What?" Lumiere asked, confused as hell.

"Lumi, I've waited for this day for as long as we've been together; now get over here and mate me!"

Lumiere flinched at the rather harsh tone and the snarl on her face. Jinx saw this and regained her composure with a giggle. "I'm sorry… it's just this stupid heat is getting to me… and I need you to come and fix that."

"How do I fix that?" Lumiere asked, now nervous.

"Didn't you remember _anything_ from that lesson from the others?" she asked, a bit impatiently.

"Wait… you weren't at that lesson," Lumiere said, remembering everyone but Flame, Ember, and Jinx were there. "Who the hell are you?" he asked whatever was on his bed.

Fake-Jinx gained an indignant look, as if he'd offended her. "Did you seriously hit your head that hard? Get your mind out of the gutter! It's me! Jinx! Now get the fuck over her and MATE ME!!"

Lumiere's eyes widened as Fake-Jinx's voice got deeper, and only watched as she sat up and looked him straight in the eye.

"Fine! If You won't mate me… then I'll mate _you_!"

Jinx stood up on the bed and pounced on him without any warning, leaving Lumiere pinned under her; another dead give-away to the fact that this wasn't his Jinx was the fact that she was a lot stronger than Jinx. In reality, Jinx could only pin him like this if he submitted to her, which he wasn't; he was struggling against her with all his might, trying to get out of her iron grip.

Jinx got right up in his face, her eyes glowing fiercely and her mouth foaming. "I thought you loved me!" she snarled.

"I love Jinx! Not whatever you are!" Lumiere shouted back.

Fake-Jinx growled and slashed him across the face, and Lumiere closed his eyes with the expectancy of pain… but as soon as her claws made contact with his skin, he felt her shift to a more familiar weight.

"I tell you to do _one thing_ , and you can't do it! Are you braindead?!" Vyra screamed.

Lumiere tried to move anything, but he was once again tied down to her bedroom floor. He struggled against his bonds and tried to scream at her, but found that this time, he had been muzzled as well.

"Well," Vyra sneered, "seeing as how you didn't learn your lesson the _last time_ , this time, I'm gonna beat you until you _die_!"

Fake-Vyra cackled perversely above him, and her claws raked his soft underbelly, drawing blood from him, reminding him of the time when Vyra had abused him in her room the first time. Lumiere screamed again, but it was muffled from the muzzle around his maw.

"Oh, still trying to speak, are we?" Fake-Vyra taunted. "Don't worry, this won't be over quick!"

Lumiere struggled again, trying anything he could to break his bonds, but found that nearly every joint was tied to by rope, making movement impossible for him. Fake-Vyra continued to slash and claw at him, while Lumiere let out muffled squeaks and whimpers and tried to hold back the tears, but instead of letting him go like the real Vyra would, this Vyra just kept slashing and clawing at him, obviously taking pleasure in hurting him, as evident by her cackles. The more she beat on him, the darker her scales got, and the more her eyes started glowing.

But Lumiere knew that this wasn't Vyra; if this was Vyra, they wouldn't be in this position right now. She had learned to accept him and even love him as her brother, and he accepted her and loved her like a sister. Which is why three words ran through his mind.

 _'I forgive you.'_

As soon as he said those words in his head, Vyra shrieked from above him, eyes now glowing brighly and her upper scales almost completely black.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Fake-Vyra screamed as Lumiere's bonds faded away. Lumiere sat up and faced her again as her eyes filled with tears. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she screamed again, though this time, the agony was obvious. "I'LL KILL HER!! I'LL DO IT, I SWEAR!!" Lumiere only looked at her with sad eyes.

"I'd forgive you," he whispered.

Fake-Vyra shrieked in pain as her upper scales began to brighten, and her eyes started to lose their glow. Lumiere could only watch as Fake-Vyra screamed in anguish and rolled around in agony.

"I HATE YOU!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I _FUCKING_ HATE YOU!! YOU SON OF A BITCH!! FUCK YOU!!"

Lumiere only looked away from the heart-wrenching sight of whatever was in his adopted sister fight whatever cure he administered with his words. Eventually, though, the shrieks got smaller and smaller, and started to sound far away as the room darkened.

 _Lumiere…._

Lumiere closed his eyes and opened them, only to see a desolate forest surrounding everything.

"Hello?" called an echoey voice that he couldn't identify.

"Hello?" Lumiere responded.

"Hello?" the voice called.

"Hello? Here, here!" Lumiere called.

The bushes to his right rustled a bit, and out came Spyro. Only… it wasn't Spyro; the once-purple scales the young dragon had donned were now replaced by a crushing blackness, and his eyes were both glowing white. His horns and wings were chipped and tattered, which was strange for how young he still looked. Lumiere stepped back out of fear, but heard the bushes behind him rustle as well. This time, It was Cynder who was completely black with glowing white eyes and tattered wings; one of her six horns also appeared to be missing, as if it had been torn out.

"You left us," said Fake-Spyro from behind him, making Lumiere turn to him.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You left us to die in the Catacombs," Fake-Cynder said.

"You forgot about us and left us to our terrible fates," Fake-Spyro added.

"But _He_ has given us new meaning; rule all of the Dragon Realms and Avalar. To become His servants, and to become gods."

"No… no it isn't true. I would never leave anyone behind, much less you two!" Lumiere cried.

"Oh, but you did, Lumiere," Fake-Spyro claimed.

Then, in unison, they said, "He is our savior, our god; damn the Ancestors, damn the Guardians, and most of all, damn you!"

They opened their maws to reveal some kind of glowing purple light, and Lumiere jumped out of the way before they let that devastating power out of their mouths, only to collide and send out shockwaves, knocking everyone off their feet. Lumiere groaned and got to his feet seconds before the two other Fakes, and he took it as an advantage; he hightailed it out of the clearing and bolted into the forest.

"Where are you going?!" Fake-Spyro yelled.

"Are you crazy?! Nothing comes out of the forest!" Fake-Cynder yelled.

Lumiere didn't care; he had to get away from his mistakes. But… then again, if he didn't… they would just haunt him for the rest of his life. He stopped running as tears formed in his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered.

"What did you say?" Fake-Cynder asked.

"I'm sorry…" Lumiere repeated, turning to face the two dark apiritions.

They looked shocked, their eyes wide open and their jaws pretty much on the ground. They regained their former sneers, but they looked a lot more forced than last time.

"I-I don't believe you!" Fake-Spyro yelled.

"Sorry doesn't fix it!" Fake-Cynder shouted.

"I know… but… if I didn't say it…" Lumiere started, "then I'd carry around the regret for the rest of my life…."

Their sneers wavered for a brief second, and Lumiere could've sworn he saw tears forming in their eyes.

"N-no… I don't believe it!" Fake-Cynder screamed.

"Lies! Deception!" Fake-Spyro yelled.

"I don't need you to believe me… I just need to believe myself," Lumiere said.

Their black scales wavered a bit, revealing their true colors for a second, before turning back.

"I-it can't be! You left us to die! You can't regret something like that!" they yelled.

Lumiere sniffled and turned from them. "Fine… I understand… you never want to see me again…."

Their scales flickered once again, though this time they flickered three times.

"W-we just wanted a savior!" Cynder yelled.

"We never wanted to follow him… but he gave us the only way out…" Spyro whispered.

"That's alright; your actions were justified. It was my fault I left you guys…" Lumiere admitted.

Now, he didn't even mean what they meant; he was apologizing for the time he left everyone behind because he deemed himself a threat. He didn't mean to make them worry so much, and he sure as hell didn't mean to leave anyone without warning.

Now, Spyro and Cynder were both convulsing and writhing on the ground as their dark forms flickered, but it looked as if their regular forms would win. And they did; after a few more seconds, they stopped writhing and lay on the ground with tears and sobs being the only sounds leaving them.

Spyro finally found the strength to look up at him with tears rolling down his face. "I… I forgive you…" he whispered in between sobs.

Cynder also found the strength to look up at him, but also to charge him and tackle him into a fierce hug, as if she were afraid he would fade away if she let him go.

"N-never again…" she sobbed. "Never leave anyone behind…."

"I promise…" Lumiere whispered.

His vision slowly went black, and he closed his eyes once more, but when he opened them, he only saw blackness. Infinite, crushing, pitch blackness. He looked down, but saw that his scales still shone, as if a light was focused on them. He heard a growl resonate from somewhere to his left, and he looked… only to see himself. But… this him wasn't anywhere _near_ how he regularly looked; like Spyro and Cynder, Fake-Lumiere's wings were tattered beyond his age, and his horns were chipped and looked as if they would fall off with the slightest push. His upper scales were also black, as if it was consuming him, just like Fake-Vyra, and his eyes were glowing, just like Fake-Jinx. But what disturbed him the most was that his eyes weren't red; they were yellow. Not the warm yellow that had been Vyra's eyes, but a disgusting shade of the color that made him want to look away. But he couldn't peel his eyes off of his dark form; it was so horrifying, yet so intriguing at the same time.

"About time you showed up," Fake-Lumiere said in a deep, multi-layered voice that sent chills up his spine, sending foam flying from his mouth.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Lumiere asked, trying to assume a defensive stance, but his knees were shaking so much, he couldn't get them to respond.

"I have foreseen this day long ago, Lumiere," Fake-Lumiere replied. "I have been waiting for a few millenia for you to come and visit me." Fake-Lumiere then started walking towards Lumiere with a threatening sneer on his face. Lumiere tried to back away, but found that his legs wouldn't respond. Once Fake-Lumiere was close enough, he sniffed Lumiere up and down, as if searching for a specific scent. Once he reached the pendant, he smiled sinisterly and locked eyes with Lumiere. "I have been waiting for you to bring this to me." He reached out with his hands, but as soon as his claw came in contact with the silver, his winced as a flash of light appeared where he touched it. "So Ignitus has given you protection. No matter; I shall retrieve it some other way."

"No…" Lumiere whispered.

Fake-Lumiere snapped his gaze on Lumiere. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I said… no," Lumiere repeated, only slightly louder.

"Do you have any idea what I could do to you here?" Fake-Lumiere snarled. "I could keep you here for decades, centuries, millennia, and torture you for years on end. And you would never die; you'd feel all the pain of a slow death, but never reach the black abyss that takes us to the Ancestors."

"As long as you don't get this," Lumiere said quietly, building his determination.

Fake-Lumiere flashed a sinister smile. "Have it your way, then."

For some reason, that smile didn't scare Lumiere as much as it should have, but he didn't think anything of it; he _would_ get out of here, and he wouldn't let some reject of himself keep him from his family.

Fake-Lumiere moved to tackle him, but Lumiere moved with surprising speed and teleported himself away from Fake-Lumiere, who face him with a sneer. Fake-Lumiere then unleashed a ball of pure Shadow at Lumiere, who countered it with his own ball of white flame and red lightning. Upon contact, the three elements sent out a shockwave that knocked Fake-Lumiere off his feet. Fortunately for Lumiere, he was ready for the sudden shockwave and flapped his wings once to avoid getting knocked down like his dark counterpart. Fake-Lumiere growled as he got to his feet and locked his fiery gaze on Lumiere, who stared right back. At that moment, he was scared shitless, but he knew he couldn't let Fake-Lumiere see that, otherwise he would lose his advantage that courage gave him.

"Get back down here, you little shit!" Fake-Lumiere roared.

In response, Lumiere only flew higher and summoned a mini tornado that was headed straight for Fake-Lumiere, whose eyes widened as he was sucked into the storm. Lumiere then fired a flaming ball of electricity at the tornado, sucking up the energy and making the storm even more dangerous. Fake-Lumiere, who was inside the storm, let out a bellow before breaking the storm's hold on him and flying out with the help of his shadow power.

"Damn," Lumiere cursed.

"You thought you would get rid of me that easy?" Fake-Lumiere sneered, before launching himself at Lumiere, propelling himself with his Shadow element.

Lumiere dodged him in mid air, before turning to see that Fake-Lumiere was turning around to try and head for him again. Lumiere fired off a ball of crackling flame directly at Fake-Lumiere, who dodged out of the way in the nick of time because of how fast his Shadow was carrying him. Lumiere once again dodged Fake-Lumiere when he tried to hit him head-on, but caught the tail end of his Shadow. He hissed in pain and looked to see that his left side had been sizzling and charred

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Lumiere muttered.

He looked back to Fake-Lumiere, who was already completely turned around and heading in his direction. Lumiere snarled and got an attack ready for when Fake-Lumiere reached him, which happened in a matter of seconds.

"I've had about enough of you," Lumiere spat as he summoned a fireball in his right forepaw. He let the energy surge through his arm so that the whole appendage was covered in white flame and red lightning. The thing was, it had so much potential energy that it hurt just to keep it up. Lumiere groaned from the effort right as Fake-Lumiere reached him. Fake-Lumiere made to slash at Lumiere, but Lumiere punched Fake-Lumiere right in the snout, sending out a huge blast of excess energy, most of which collided with Fake-Lumiere, who plummeted like a rock as a result, his muscles and mind to weak and overloaded to continue. After about a second, Fake-Lumiere slammed into what was the ground with a loud _thud!_ that echoed for what was probably miles. Lumiere proceeded to glide safely to the ground, right beside the crater Fake-Lumiere had created when he impacted the "floor."

"Ugh…" Fake-Lumiere groaned.

Lumiere walked up to him and couldn't help but feel pity. Fake-Lumiere's right hind leg, left foreleg, and both of his wings were all bent at unnatural angles to the point where they looked like they could be twisted right off his body, and both of his horns had been broken completely off, so nothing but a stump remained in their places. His underside was covered in lacerations of all sizes, ranging from a measly scratch to a gash that exposed his heart and intestines respectively. He was coughing up blood, and his eyes had returned to their normal crimson red, though one of them was swollen shut.

"All from a little fall," Fake-Lumiere laughed before sputtering blood from his mouth and descending into a fit of coughing and wheezing. When he finally got himself under control, he sighed and said, "You win."

Lumiere bowed his head to show he had heard the words of his dark counterpart. He became saddened that he was forced to reduce something so similar to him to a state like this; sure, their morals, personalities, and all the like contradicted each other, but they were similar enough.

"So what do I get?" Lumiere asked in a somber tone.

Fake-Lumiere sighed and smiled sadly as he lowered his head and faded away, leaving nothing in his wake besides the crater.

 _You are the future, Lumiere. Make this future count._

Nothing but a pulsating orb of pure Shadow remained in the crater. Lumiere furrowed his brow as he walked up to it and touched it. Immediately, the orb engulfed his forepaw, then his whole arm, then it started to consume his body, until only his eyes were free of the weird Shadow. Then, it started to sink into his skin.

 _You are the future._

Lumiere instantly felt a rush of power and energy enter his veins, as if he had pumped his body full of adrenaline, caffeine, and green crystals all at once, though without any of the bad side effects and twitchiness. Lumiere's eyes snapped open at the sudden feeling of strength, and he doubled over, closing his eyes to cope with the immense amount of strength pumping through his body. When he opened them, though, he saw another orb sitting there. This one was also pulsating, but this one was pure white. The element of Light. When he touched it, he suddenly felt as if he had flew a couple dozen laps around Warfang and had then raced on foot around the Dragon Temple. However, unlike with Shadow, the Light only stayed there, and he saw the Shadow leave his body and enter the orb of Light, until it was half black and half white, split horizontally down the middle with a curved line, with an orb of the opposite energy in the middle of its own.

 _Yin and Yang._

Lumiere's brow furrowed at this, and he reached out to touch the weird orb of Light and Shadow, only for it to collide roughly with his abdomen, sending him flying across the ground. Lumiere groaned and looked at the orb, which had not moved from its position.

 _You must tame the power._

 _'But what if it's too strong for me?'_ Lumiere asked in his mind. But one look at that stupid orb, and he was filled with determination. _'No… no, this thing isn't too strong for me; I can beat it. For everyone. For my family. For Jinx.'_

And with that thought, he launched himself at the orb, which had not moved from its previous state. Unfortunately for it, Lumiere had gotten past its every defense it was throwing at him; even if the white male didn't realize it, the orb was giving its all to not let Lumiere touch it. But his will was too strong, and he was able to touch the orb.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	14. Not-So Extinct

_M_

"Lumiere?!" Jinx cried. "Lumiere, please wake up!"

It had been five minutes since Lumiere had dove for the orb and fallen on the ground, but it had been an extremely long, agonizing five minutes that had everyone tense. As much as they didn't want to admit it, they were waiting for the moment when the white dragon's labored breathing would stop, and he would die.

"Lumiere!" Jinx sobbed. "Lumiere, by the name of our Ancestors, I swear, if you die…."

Jinx never finished her sentence, since she was cut off by Lumiere jolting awake with a gasp.

"Oh, Lumi!" she gasped and wrapped him in a fierce hug.

"Jinx?" he asked, as if in disbelief.

"Yeah… yeah, it's me… it's me, Lumi…" she whispered into his neck. But, much to his surprise, she backed up and broke the hug, only to punch him in the arm. "What the hell were you thinking, you ass?!" she yelled. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"Sorry…" Lumiere apologized weakly. "I'm sorry for leaving in the first place…."

"What?" Jinx asked, trailing off the other side of her sudden anger.

"If I didn't, we wouldn't be in this mess…" Lumiere replied, his voice still quiet. "But… I got us all in this mess… now it's my job to get us out."

"Why did you even bring that up?" Jinx asked, now more confused than anything.

"I… I saw a vision… of… of…."

Lumiere didn't finish his sentence, but the way he was looking at Spyro and Cynder told those two all they needed to know.

"Let me guess…" Spyro started, "you saw our dark forms."

Lumiere nodded solemnly and said, "You said… I left you guys down here… left you to your terrible fate… and that the Dark Master became your savior."

"The Dark Master… became our… _savior_?" Spyro asked in disbelief.

"That's what you said… at least, in the vision, that's what you said," Lumiere replied.

Spyro and Cynder looked not only sad, but disgusted, as if the very idea of joining the Dark Master was the most indignant thing they'd ever heard.

"Well you don't have to worry about that, no matter what," Cynder replied. "I'm _never_ going back to him. The hell he put me through…."

Spyro put a comforting wing on her back as she looked at the ground, trying to stop the tears. Lumiere only nodded in response and looked at the ground as well.

"What else did you see?" Cyclone asked, making everyone turn to him. "Th-that is, i-if you don't mind me asking!" he added quickly when he saw his mate shooting him a death glare.

"No, it's cool," Lumiere replied. He sighed and summed up his little vision in a low voice, just like when he recited the words below the painting in the tomb… only this time, the air got noticeable colder when he mentioned his dark self. By the time he was done, Jinx, Vyra, Spyro, and Cynder all had their head down in shame of what their dark alter egos had done to him.

"Hey, you know I would never force something like that on you, right?" Jinx asked.

"Yeah, I know," Lumiere replied with a slight smile, before jokingly adding, "But it's not my fault I'm too _handsome_ to resist."

Jinx scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop the smile from coming to her face. The others all let out a chuckle at this, and it felt as if the mood had finally been lifted after the many solemn and grim moments.

"Oh please," Jinx scoffed.

"Hey, your words. Not mine," Lumiere replied with a little smile.

"Ancestors, you're unbelievable," Jinx muttered.

Lumiere chuckled with a cheeky smile plastered on his face. But that smile soon turned gentle, as did Jinx's, and the two gazed into each other's eyes, getting lost in the colors.

"Hey, not to break the mood or anything, but," Voltia started, "I think we should get going."

The somber mood immediately returned, and everyone lost their smiles; Vyra even glared at her a bit before sighing and agreeing.

"Yeah, I think she's right; if we're gonna get out of this stupid maze fast, then we're gonna have to set out earlier."

Everyone there nodded half-heartedly, hoping they could savor the good mood for just a bit longer. Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for them. Lumiere tried to get up off the ground so he could once again lead them on, but he yelped in pain and fell to the ground. Everyone raised an eyebrow at this.

"Hey, did you forget about your wrist?" Jinx asked.

"Yeah, kinda; I didn't have a broken wrist in my vision," Lumiere replied.

"Fair enough," Jinx replied. "Here, lemme help you."

Jinx helped Lumiere to his feet so they could continue their trek through the Dark Catacombs, but what they came across next they were not ready for in the slightest.

 _M_

"So where does that book say the exit is?" Terrador asked.

Pyra read through a couple pages with her brow furrowed, her eyes scanning the pages frantically for some kind of clue or location as to where the exit was.

Finally, her brow furrowed even further as she said, "Warfang."

"You mean… the exit is… in this city?" Volteer asked.

"If it is, it would have laid right under our noses the whole time," Cyril said. "How did we not come across it when building the new Temple and academy? We burrowed fairly deeply into the earth; surely we would've come across _something_ that at least alluded to the Dark Catacombs."

"Maybe these Catacombs are more… powerful than they seem," Pyra reasoned. "All of our sources say that they were built when the _wyverns_ were still alive; back then, the world of elements was a lot different."

Volteer nodded and said, "Yes, I have read into these Dark Catacombs, and most sources say that Magic and Earth wyverns built most, if not all, of the Catacombs. The world back then was different indeed."

Everyone nodded, but the three males noticed something. "Pyra?" Terrador asked.

"Hmm?"

"Where does the book say the exit is _exactly_?"

Pyra furrowed her brow and looked back at the open page, reading through line by line for a couple minutes, looking over the words time and time again, trying to find an exact location.

"It says it's…" she started, but never finished.

"Yes?" Volteer asked. "Where does it say?"

"It says it's… under the Symbol of Chryosis."

Cyril and Terrador furrowed their brows, and Cyril asked, "Where's that at?"

"In Dragon's Fire, behind the bar," Volteer answered instantly. When everyone looked to him, he asked, "What?"

"How do you even know that?" Terrador asked.

"Did you ever wonder where I disappeared to in my younger years when… at the academy?" Volteer asked.

"You mean you used to drink?" Pyra asked.

"I… used to," Volteer admitted. "But I haven't had a drop of liquor in over two hundred years, not since we graduated; I only remember because of my great memory, not to sound boastful."

Everyone nodded in deep thought, before Pyra broke the silence with, "Well how about I buy us a couple drinks?"

 _M_

"RUN!!" Vyra screamed as the shadows chased them.

Since exiting the room, the company of ten adolescent dragons had no clue where they were going, where they were, and how they were getting to the exit. Eventually, though, they came across another room like the one they found the Shadow in. Unfortunately for them, instead of an orb, they came across a room of shadowy beings that were made completely of Shadow. When they attacked, they all ran without a second thought, even though Lumiere managed to dispatch of two of the creatures.

The creatures themselves looked like dragons, only made up of Shadow, the only features to them being their glowing red eyes. And the worst part was that the silhouettes were reminiscent of the Dark Master's own figure, according to Spyro and Cynder.

"You don't need to tell _me_ twice!" Flame yelled back.

They had taken the chance to rest in a small room like the tomb they came across the day before, only it was completely covered in the ancient language they had come across time and time again throughout the Catacombs, only it was also on the floor and ceiling in addition to the walls. But, in consistency with their bad luck, the dragons of Shadow found them after a couple minutes, and had come barreling down the hall that led to the room, leaving them to simply scatter out of fear. Lumiere and Jinx went down the center hall, Spyro and Cynder went to the hall to the left of that, Vyra and Voltia went to the next one over, Flame and Ember went down the hall to the right of Lumiere and Jinx's, leaving Cyclone and Toxia to head down the one to the right. Three Shadows pursued Lumiere and Jinx, two went after Spyro and Cynder, while only one each pursued the others.

Spyro and Cynder both ran like hell away from the Shadow pursuing them and turned every corner they could to confuse the apparition. Eventually, however, they got lost and had no clue where they had come from, where they were going, or any sense of direction. The only thing good about their situation was that they had managed to lose the Shadow somewhere back a couple corners, though they still ran because they wanted to put as much distance in between them and it as possible. Soon, they figured it was safe to stop and catch their breaths for a few minutes, and they did so in a random hallway that led into two t-junctions in either direction.

"Man, that was _scary_!" Spyro panted.

"Yeah… what were those things?" Cynder asked through her own gulping breaths.

"I don't know… but they looked like they were made completely of Shadow," Spyro replied.

"Yeah… that was freaky," Cynder said.

"Come on; we have to find a way back to the others," Spyro said with determination.

"How? We all went down different tunnels," Cynder reminded the purple dragon. "Plus, we don't even know where we are, and we can't just go around the halls shouting names."

"What? Why?" Spyro asked.

"Spyro, we don't know just how powerful these Shadows are…."

"Spyro?" called a voice from the hall they just came from

They both furrowed their brows and exchanged glances.

"Spyro?" called the voice again. "Spyro, it's Flame."

Spyro sighed in relief and walked around the corner. "Flame, man is it good to hear you alive and well."

"Spyro, I don't think that's -" Cynder tried.

"Oh, come on, Cynder. You said it yourself; we have to find the others, and we can start with Flame and Ember."

Cynder looked wary, but followed the purple male anyway. Once they were close enough, Spyro unleashed a little fireball into the hallway to temporarily illuminate their friends.

"Hey, guys, good to see -"

Spyro was cut off by a sudden roar, and they were both thrown ten feet back from the hall. Spyro shook off the pain and looked at Cynder, who had fallen unconscious.

"Dammit…" he cursed.

He looked back to the hallway and saw none other than one of the Shadow dragons blocking the way out. Spyro turned back around to see that one of the other Shadow dragons was blocking the only other way out. They were trapped. Spyro's breathing hitched in his throat, and he stood up shakily, ready to face these two demons and protect the still-unconscious Cynder. He faced the one that had knocked him and Cynder back and got as close as he could to his mate while assuming a defensive stance. Growling, he locked his eyes on its throat, since that was how Lumiere dispatched the two other Shadows. Both Shadows roared and started to slowly approach the two young dragons while flicking their axe-shaped tail blades behind them.

 _'This is never how I thought I would die,'_ Spyro thought.

But then, a sudden light filled the corridor, and the two Shadows reared up and tried to charge them suddenly. They never reached their target, though, and they were both thrown back when another light flashed in the corridor. They hissed and ran back the way they each came, but not before glaring at both dragons with their beady red eyes.

At that point, Spyro couldn't take any more, and he passed out beside Cynder. The last thing he saw was a black wing membrane pass in front of his head.

 _M_

"Jinx, go ahead of me!" Lumiere yelled. Jinx obeyed without question, especially since she witnessed him kill the two other Shadows. They ran like that, Lumiere staving off the pain of his wrist shifting with each step until they took a turn in the darkness and managed to lose all of the Shadows. When they passed the hallway Lumiere and Jinx were hiding in, the two dragons breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Thank the Ancestors," Jinx mumbled.

"Definitely," Lumiere added.

They headed further down the hallway they had entered to get away from the Shadows, jogging a bit for that same reason, though Lumiere now took the time to lift his right paw off the ground and against his side like he'd been doing until they came across the Shadows.

"I think we have to be careful about where we go; no telling what happened to the others," Lumiere said lowly, making sure to keep his voice quiet so he didn't risk being heard by the Shadows.

"We have to find our way back to them," Jinx suggested.

"How?" Lumiere asked. "We don't know where the hell we are, so how could we possibly find out where the others are.

"Hello?" called a voice.

Lumiere and Jinx exchanged an uneasy glance, before looking to where it came from; it sounded like it was just a bit down the hall, right through the doorway at the end. Worse, it sounded like the voice of a little girl.

"Lumiere?" Jinx asked nervously.

"Stay behind me," Lumiere ordered firmly, not taking his eyes off the doorway.

Jinx only nodded and stayed behind the limping male, who slowly and tentatively moved towards the doorway. Their claws clicked on the hard stone below, and their echo only made the air more tense than it already was. When they rounded the corner, however, they both relaxed a bit at seeing a young Fire dragoness sitting in the corner of the dead-end hall. Lumiere and Jinx looked in the other direction, but saw and heard nothing. They deemed the hall safe, so Lumiere and Jinx stepped in.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Jinx asked comfortingly.

"I-I was just looking for my family…" the hatchling replied, with streaks of tears running from her bloodshot eyes.

"Do you know where they are?" Lumiere asked, stepping forward. All the little girl did was shake her head. "Well, why don't you come with us?" Lumiere suggested, reaching to pick the girl up with his good arm, making him stand on his hind legs.

The little girl smiled, though it wasn't the kind of smile a scared little girl would give; this smile was a lot more devious, making Lumiere furrow his brow in worry and confusion. Then, all of a sudden, the little girl began to change; she stood up completely as her scales began to take on a darker hue. She grew to at least twice her size before her eyes changed to those beady, red eyes that they hated.

"THEY CAN SHAPESHIFT!!" Lumiere yelled, hoping at least one of his companions could hear him.

He stumbled backward as the Shadow, or Mimic, pounced up and landed on the ceiling. Lumiere yelled in pain, since the Shadow had burned his now steaming and charred scales, which were now black because of the serious burns. Jinx ran to his aid, but she was pulled back by her tail, making her yelp in pain, and saw another Mimic standing in the Shadow. Jinx attempted to use her Fear element on the beast, but it appeared to have no effect on the featureless brute. Just then, the last Mimic that was pursuing them came down the hall that Lumiere and Jinx had come from, walking slowly as the first Mimic dropped from the ceiling and dragged Lumiere by his neck, while the other dragged Jinx by her tail.

"Jinx…!" he tried yelling, struggling against the Mimic's grip so he could bound to his love and hold her just one last time before they died. But the Mimics were cruel, and the one holding him only tightened its grip around his neck, making him choke out a whimper of pain from the intense burning. Just then, he felt himself being pushed forward, and he collapsed to the ground at the feet of the last Mimic. He looked up, trying to see something, anything, in those eyes. But all he saw in those eyes was evil, cruelty, and malice.

"Fuck… you…" Lumiere managed before his head collapsed on the ground like his body.

"L-Lumi?" Jinx asked with fear evident in her shaking voice.

Lumiere closed his eyes and said in his mind, _'I love you… my gem.'_

 _'I love you too,'_ Jinx replied, _'my Light.'_

The closed their eyes and mentally embraced as the Mimic prepared to cleave Lumiere's head off with its axe-like tail blade.

But before the Mimic could bring the axe down, a voice yelled out, "Get off of him this instant!"

The Mimic looked in the direction the voice came, but only succeeded in getting a face full of some kind of green energy, as did the other two. They glared at Lumiere and Jinx before running away into the darkness of the hall opposite to the one the attack came from.

"Are you alright, young ones?" asked the voice.

But Lumiere couldn't take his eyes off the dark hall where the Mimics had disappeared, especially since the last one out, the one that was about to kill him, looked back one last time and glared at him, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Lumiere!" Jinx whispered in awe. "Lumiere!"

"What?" Lumiere asked, slowly taking his eyes off the doorway.

"Lumiere, look!" Jinx exclaimed, pointing to their savior.

Lumiere expected one of their friends, one of the Guardians, or even just a random dragon, to be standing there, looking down at them with relief and/or worry. While the relief part was true, the dragon part wasn't. Standing there, right in front of them, was a lumbering, old-looking wyvern.

All Lumiere and Jinx could do was gape in astonishment at the old male who had saved their lives.

The wyvern had a kind look in his sunken emerald eyes that surpassed that of even Pyra, as if this wyvern had truly cared about them more than anything else. His body was aqua blue, while his underbelly was a dark shade of navy blue. His wing membranes were a majestic dark blue splattered with white dots that looked like stars. His tail ended with four spikes sticking out on either side, all of which were bone-white, as were his wing tips and claws. His head was a little shorter than a dragon's but still reminiscent of them, and he had a long scar going across his face from his right eyebrow to the left of his chin. On his neck was a silver necklace that had a glowing emerald inside the clasp.

"Are you two alright?" he asked in a deep, soothing voice, though it sounded a lot more foreign and old-timey.

"Y-yeah, I think so," Lumiere replied, mouth still agape in pure shock and awe at seeing a live wyvern.

The wyvern smiled kindly and asked, "What are your names, young ones?"

"Th-this is Jinx, and I-I'm Lumiere," the white male replied.

"Lumiere?" the old wyvern asked.

Lumiere realized what he found in the tomb, and said, "I know about the tomb, too. But that's not me. At least… I don't think it is…."

"It's not, Lumi," Jinx chipped in.

They looked into the wyvern's eyes, and saw amusement replace the surprise at hearing the ancient name, long forgotten in a dark tomb.

"Ah, young love… it never ceases to amaze me," the wyvern said wistfully, eyeing both youths with amusement and smiling gently. "Follow, young ones; I believe you two desire food, water, rest, and company of not only myself, but your friends."

"Our friends?" Jinx asked with a smile on her face. "Our friends, they're alive?"

"Oh yes, I found them all in much the same predicament you two were in just a moment ago."

 _'Volteer would love this guy,'_ Lumiere thought with a mental smirk.

 _'Yeah, but at least this guy doesn't drone on and on,'_ Jinx replied.

Jinx lifted herself off the ground with relatively little trouble, the only injury she had being the burn on her tail where the Mimic grabbed her. Lumiere was a different story; in addition to his broken wrist, he now had severe burns on his chest and arms from the Mimic jumping at him, and when he put pressure on his wrist, he yelped and fell on said burns, making him suppress a sob of pain. Jinx eventually had to help him up, but the wyvern only smiled patiently.

"Now hurry along, young ones; I have red crystals, if you desire them."

He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned around when Lumiere asked, "What's your name?"

He regarded the white dragon for a moment and looked away before looking him in the eye and saying, "Aeon. My name is Aeon."

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	15. Between a Bar and a Bedroom

**One quick thing before the story; I want you guys to vote on a Christmas one-shot for any fandoms I have previously written for (Jurassic Park/World, Inheritence Cycle, Spyro the Dragon). If you have any other requests, PM me, and I'll see what I can do. If you wanna collab, even better; working by myself gets a bit lonely sometimes. And just a forewarning, you won't hear from me until Christmas because of finals, unless you wanna collab of course. That's all, hope you guys enjoy.**

 _M_

One thing was for certain in Warfang; the bar got a hell of a lot louder.

For a couple hours, the Guardians did nothing but wait and drink, and while Volteer could handle his liquor quite well, suffice to say the same couldn't be said for the other three. Not that Volteer minded; they were just a bit louder than normal.

 _'At least they aren't making fools of themselves like I did the first time I was drunk,'_ Volteer thought in relief.

At the moment, they were all at the bar, drinking glasses of whiskey to pass the time. While Volteer may have been used to the feeling in his throat, the others were gagging and choking for the first couple minutes, before they eventually developed a tolerance for the bitter drink. Then, they downed the stuff like Volteer had been doing, which led up to their current time.

"Ah, the old days," Volteer sighed, remembering how simple everything was back then.

"Whuh waz that, Volteer?" Pyra slurred from his right side.

"Oh, just… reminiscing the old days, don't mind me," he said to her quietly as Cyril and Terrador conversed loudly to his left before asking for another glass. The bartender poured them both another glass of whiskey before making his way to Pyra and Volteer.

"You sure know how to lift our spirits, that's for damn sure," the cheetah said. "Another round?"

"Please," Volteer replied, pushing his glass forwards, as did Pyra.

"Y'know, this is probably the most fun the guys have had in a while," the bartender said as he turned to the other waiters. Just then, Cyril and Terrador busted out into a drinking song, swaying from side to side with the tempo while a lot of others, including the waiters the bartender gestured to, joined in and started to lean from side to side as well.

The bartender smiled and chuckled as he poured another glass for Volteer and Pyra. "It's been a while since the bar was this lively; usually just a buncha guys coming in to drink away the problems, the memories, whatnot."

"I know; I was much the same way when I was younger," Volteer replied as Pyra took a swig. "I used to sneak out of my room every night to come here and drink," he said, taking a swig of his own drink.

"That why you can drink better than your three buddies?" the bartender asked, gesturing to Cyril and Terrador, then to Pyra.

"Yes, that's why," Volteer admitted. "I used to have problems with bullies when I was at the academy, and none of the teachers would help me; my only friend was the bottle."

"Ah, I feel ya," the bartender said. "Wasn't always strong, wasn't always pretty neither. Got made fun of almost every day, and so I drank; snuck bottles and cans of my pa's beer and whiskey, though I never got drunk like you probably did."

"No, my first time drunk was… unique to say the least."

"What'd ya do, trash the place?" the bartender asked with a smile.

Volteer flushed red, though a slight smile tugged at his lips. "I guess you could say that."

The bartender chuckled again and looked to see Pyra down her glass of whiskey. "Thirsty?" he asked humorously.

"Very," the dragoness slurred as she wobbled in her seat.

"Well…" the bartender said, "least I can do is give you your drinks on the house for lifting our moods; think of it as an informal 'thank you.'"

The bartender winked at Volteer and pulled the cloth from his shoulder, wiping down the brown, wooden counter. Volteer and Pyra both lifted their drinks so he could clean under them. He mumbled his thanks as he finished cleaning that part of the counter, and Volteer and Pyra looked to see Cyril and Terrador smiling and chugging wooden tankards.

"How did they get those?" Pyra asked as she teetered a bit.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Volteer replied.

They turned back around and watched as the bartender grabbed a third glass from behind the counter and poured another glass of whiskey.

He held it up to eye level and said, "Here's to therapeutic drinks."

Volteer chuckled lightly as he and the bartender clinked their glasses together. He and Pyra did the same, before Pyra did the same with the bartender. Once they had all done that, they took a quick drink and set their glasses down gently.

"So what brings you guys in here?" the bartender asked.

Volteer looked to Pyra, who wasn't even looking at the two, and instead focused on Cyril's and Terrador's drunken shenanigans.

He sighed explosively and looked back at the bartender before saying, "Her two children and my niece are stuck in the Dark Catacombs, the exit of which is supposedly in here somewhere, as marked by that symbol."

Volteer pointed to the Symbol of Chryosis, which was engraved on the dark wooden floor. The bartender looked at the symbol with an expression of curiosity before looking back at Volteer.

"Hey, I don't know nothing about no Dark Catacombs; this bar's been here longer than I have, and I'm probably around a hundred fifty."

"I'm two hundred and twenty-seven," Volteer replied. "I may not have been here for the construction of the Dark Catacombs, so I was not here to see their methods of building, but it is said that wyverns of Magic and Earth built the maze, and we think that they used the magic to hide it from those who don't mean to see it."

"Well then what the hell you doing just sitting here?" the bartender asked. "Shouldn't you be smashing through that symbol or something if there _is_ a maze down there?"

"No… we are merely waiting; we don't even know for certain if the maze is under us at this moment, or if there are multiple exits."

The bartender hummed and nodded, before saying, "Then my advice to you is to get some rest; you all look like you need a lot of it."

"Indeed we do," Volteer sighed, downing the rest of his drink. "Indeed we do."

He looked at Pyra, who was now laughing at the other two Guardians, who were trying to balance spoons on their noses while standing on their hind legs, wobbling and waving from side to side.

When he looked at the bartender, the cheetah was looking from side to side, as if searching for something or someone, then took a marque out from under the counter and slid it to Volteer.

"Here, that should pay for two rooms; there's an inn upstairs. Go get some sleep, and I'll come and let you know if anything happens."

Volteer looked in shock at the marque. "I… I don't think I can take this."

"Sure you can; I'm giving it to you. Besides, one marque won't put us outta business."

Volteer heaved a sigh and took the marque. "Thank you… how can I repay you?"

"You _have_ been; this is probably one of the best nights we had in a while, and it's all thanks to you four," the bartender replied with a smile.

Volteer smiled back and held the marque up, eyeing its features carefully to make sure it was authentic. Once he did that, he put it back down on the countertop and said, "I don't think I ever got your name."

"My buddies call me Duke," the cheetah replied.

"Well, I'm -"

"I know who you are, Guardian," Duke replied. "I knew you the moment you guys walked in."

Volteer smiled and said, "Well, thanks for not bowing to us and showering us in praise like everyone else; it gets old after a few years."

"Oh, I'm sure it does; I'm just giving you a break."

Volteer chuckled lightly and looked at the marque again.

M

Volteer jolted awake with a small gasp in the bed he currently lay in. After leaving the bar and walking upstairs, Volteer paid for the rooms with the marque he received from Duke, after which they got their room numbers. Cyril and Terrador took the first room, leaving Volteer and Pyra to take the room next-door. Pyra fell asleep upon collapsing on the soft mattress, though Volteer found sleep to come to him a little harder, even if he was on a completely different mattress than his desired mate. Once it did, however, his dreams were plagued by memories of bullies and the torment he had gone through in his time at the academy; in total, he had woken up three times, including this time, and each time, sleep was coming harder to him.

"Mmh, Volteer?" Pyra groaned from her mattress.

Volteer craned his neck to look at his roommate, who was looking at him with her orange eyes that reflected what little light there was, making her eyes even more beautiful to look at.

Volteer tore his gaze away with a sigh and asked, "I'm sorry, did I rouse you?"

"No, I woke up," Pyra said. "I've got the headache of a lifetime, though."

Volteer chuckled and said, "Yes, that happens after you drink."

The room was silent for a minute or two before Pyra asked, "Are you worried about them?"

"Of course I am; she's my niece, and it's not like the others are strangers to me, especially your children," Volteer replied in a low voice. "I worry for all of them. Why do you ask?"

Pyra sighed and said, "Guess I'm just trying to break the silence between us."

Volteer smiled gently and met her gaze once more. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure those kids can fend for themselves; they're all strong."

Pyra smiled back and said, "Thank you, Volteer. You always know what to say."

Silence reigned once more before it was broken by Volteer saying, "You know… I've been having these… thoughts."

"About what?" Pyra asked.

"What exactly is down there?" Volteer asked, looking up to the ceiling trying to radiate curiosity.

He had said that with the intent on revealing his feelings for his fellow Guardian, but ultimately decided against it; not only was this a bad time to be admitting feelings like that, but there was the possibility of their relationship getting in the way of their duties as Guardians, especially her's.

But he must've been bad at hiding things, because Pyra smiled patiently and asked, "What were you really going to say, Volteer?" Volteer looked at her in confusion, but she saw right through it and said, "You were about to say something else; what was it?"

"Was it really that obvious?" Volteer asked, looking away with a flustered expression.

"Volteer…" she started, "it's been obvious since my mate left me." Volteer snapped his gaze on her as she continued. "I knew about your true feelings, and while I think about my duties as both a mother and Lead Guardian, sometimes it's hard to lose track of what makes me truly happy. And what would make me truly happy… is to be with you." Volteer's eyes widened in shock as Pyra turned away with a surprisingly prominent blush on her face. "I get why you would not reveal your feelings to me, and you were right to wait; we both have duties to perform, and you were worried that it would get in the way of our relationship, likewise our relationship would get in the way of our duties. But… even when you were in your depressive shell, you managed to perform your duties as Guardian of Lightning. And yes, I knew about that."

Volteer turned away from her, a dark-red blush plastered on his bewildered expression; she had known? Had it been _that_ obvious to everyone?

"I…" Volteer started, stuttering and stumbling over his syllables, trying to form a coherent response.

"It's okay, Volteer; you don't have to say anything," Pyra said.

Volteer heard her sheets and blankets shifting, signalling to him that she had gotten out of bed. Volteer dared to look at her, but he couldn't pull his eyes away as Pyra padded over to his bedside. Once she was there, she closed her eyes and planted a small kiss upon the yellow male's brow. Volteer's face was about as red as a tomato at this point, but he acted without thinking at that point; he leapt forward and caught Pyra's lips and pulled her on the bed with him. The Fire Guardian only smiled and accepted this, though she rolled over so that she was on top of him, but he could care less.

When they broke the kiss, Volteer finally admitted to her what he had been hiding, or at least trying to hide, for the past two hundred years; "Pyra, Guardian of Fire, I love you with all my heart."

"I love you too, Volteer, Guardian of Lightning."

They locked their lips once again in a more passionate, eager kiss, letting it say what they couldn't express with mere words. Volteer rolled on top of her, pinning her under his weight so that she could barely move. Not that she minded; she was left in shambles when her mate left her, but now she had the chance again, and she knew for a fact that Volteer would never even think of leaving her like her previous mate had. Plus, she'd loved Volteer for longer than she could remember, and even though she'd taken on a mate, that was mostly to continue Ignitus's line so he would have an heir to succeed him, which is why she wanted a son. And tonight was the night when she would finally get the chance to conceive again, so that she would also have an heir.

She broke the kiss, as did Volteer, and she said, "I'm tired of waiting; I want you… no, I _need_ you, Volteer."

Volteer smiled and said, "I'd be happy to oblige."

 _M_

 **Remember to vote and/or leave a review. Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	16. The Lost Cave

**Hey, sorry for not uploading in quite awhile; I was a bit busy celebrating Christmas and New Years with my family. But now I'm back, and with not one, but** ** _two_** **new chapters! As always, hope you enjoy.**

 _M_

"When we enter, you must be careful not to rouse anyone; they all rest from your tiresome journey down here," Aeon said to Jinx and Lumiere, who had to be carried once again by Jinx.

"Alright," Lumiere managed.

"Yeah, no problem," Jinx added.

Lumiere groaned atop Jinx just as they came to an old door made of dark oak wood, with the symbol of Chryosis engraved on the center of it.

"How did no one find you down here?" Lumiere asked.

"I am a wyvern of Magic; I can show, and hide, myself whenever and wherever I wish," Aeon replied.

Jinx and Lumiere only chuckled, though Lumiere's was followed a groan of discomfort; both his broken wrist and burned chest were causing him great pain, even if he didn't outwardly show it.

Aeon opened the door with one of his arms, which shielded the door a bit since his wing blocked the view a bit, but when he moved it out of the way, they gasped at what they saw. There was a soft, yellow glow in the large cave, making it seem as if dusk had permanently taken residence there, and there were a couple trees and patches of grass scattered across the uneven floor, as well as a little waterfall lined with what looked like cherry blossoms and river running from the far end of the cave to right in front of where they stood now. In the middle there were two tiny huts that were made of only wood and a bit of straw for the roofs, though they had windows and doors faced towards the entrance. Along the side of the cave wall, there was another hut like this, except it was a little larger so that it could easily house all four Guardians.

"Wow…" Jinx whispered as she looked over this forgotten cave.

"Indeed," Aeon chuckled. "Your friends are already in that hut over there," he pointed to the large hut on the side, "but I have another for you two, seeing as how that hut is completely occupied. However, we need to heal your wounds."

Lumiere and Jinx both nodded as they followed Aeon over the little bridge that ran over the river and down the path before an all black wyvern stopped them.

He regarded them and asked, "Who are they?"

"Companions of those already under our care," Aeon replied before turning to Lumiere and Jinx. "This is my son, Kage."

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Kage said with a polite nod. He eyed Lumiere and asked his father, "Would you like me to fetch a couple red gems?"

"Yes, that would be most helpful, thank you," Aeon replied.

Kage nodded and ran back down the path into one of the center huts, before Aeon took the duo of young dragons down a path that led to another hut on the opposite side of the cave, secluded from everything, even the light that bathed every square inch of the cave besides that corner. When they walked in, Jinx didn't take the time to look around and only rested Lumiere on the bed that was in the far right corner, before Kage entered with some red gems. Jinx moved out of the way so Kage could give Lumiere the red gems.

"So where do you venture from?" Kage asked as Lumiere took the red gems in his left forepaw.

"We come from Warfang," Jinx answered.

"The slums?" Kage asked with a confused expression as he turned around in surprise.

"No, the city's… actually pretty nice," Jinx replied, also in shock.

Kage turned to his father and said, "Much has changed in the time we were down here."

"Indeed," Aeon replied.

"Yeah, actually," Jinx started, making the two wyverns turn to her, "the elements of fear, poison, shadow, and wind just got reinstated to the academy after the war against the Dark Master ended."

"The Dark Master?" Aeon asked with a curious expression.

"Yeah, he was consumed by the four Dark elements," Jinx said. "After that, he was banished, and he got together an army of apes and went to war against the Guardians at the time, which was newly appointed. After that, it was kind of a bloodbath, and a lot of dragons died, or got captured like the Guardians."

"Where is this Dark Master? Is he the reason you ventured down here?" Aeon asked.

"No, he's… banished to another dimension, or something," Jinx replied. "I don't know the details; you'd have to ask Spyro and Cynder."

" _Four_ Dark elements?" Kage asked. "I thought dragons could control one or, on rare occasion, two elements, but to control four elements at once, especially the Dark elements…."

"Well… the Dark Master was a purple dragon like Spyro, and he could control all four Universal elements, since he was this once-in-ten-generations type dragons."

"Your friend Spyro," Aeon said, "can _he_ control all four Universal elements?"

"Yeah, he can; I've seen him use them all a couple times, though he seems to favor Fire for some reason…" Jinx replied thoughtfully.

"Does he control any Dark elements?" Kage asked.

"No, but his mate, Cynder, controls all four," Jinx said with slight hesitation.

"I see…" Aeon whispered.

"But for the record, neither of them are _bad_ dragons," Jinx said defensively. "The only reason the Dark Master was consumed was because he became overzealous and boastful. I know Spyro and Cynder would _never_ do anything like that in a million years."

Aeon smiled at this, but wondered why her companion hadn't said anything, as did Jinx, but their answer soon came in the form of soft snoring from the white dragon. Aeon smiled at this and looked back to Jinx with an amused expression, lifting one of his arms and putting one claw over his mouth in a "be-quiet" gesture. Jinx giggled softly and nodded. Kage chuckled and shook his head as the two wyverns began to exit the hut.

"Guys?" Jinx asked in a hushed whisper. They turned to her, and Jinx said, "Thank you… for everything you've done… especially for him."

Kage smiled and said, "It wasn't much, but you're most welcome anyways."

Jinx smiled back and turned to her bed as Aeon closed the door. Neither of the beds were anything special; just some white mattresses and pillows on old wooden frames with some white sheets and blankets, which Jinx threw back before climbing in bed and covering herself. She looked at Lumiere and smiled.

"Goodnight, Lumi," she whispered as she rolled over to sleep with her back to the center of the room.

 _M_

Lumiere opened his eyes to see the gentle glow of the cave flowing into the room through one window, making everything appear as if it were early morning. It probably _was_ early morning, though; that's usually what time Lumiere woke up naturally, and he had no reason to think that that morning would be any different.

"Lumi?" someone asked from across the room.

Lumiere searched slowly and lazily for the noise until his eyes landed upon the beautiful form of Jinx, curled up under her blanket and looking back at him with her scarlet eyes.

Lumiere gave weak smile. "Morning," he groaned.

"Morning," Jinx replied quietly. "Have a good sleep?"

Lumiere stretched out on his bed and said, "You have no idea."

Jinx chuckled and said, "Well, Aeon swung by earlier and said that breakfast was ready for whenever we came down. And everyone's already down there."

Lumiere pulled the covers off and moved tiredly over to Jinx's bed just as the crimson dragoness threw the covers off her form.

"Why thank you," Lumiere said teasingly with a smile.

"For what?" Jinx asked with a confused expression.

Lumiere only yawned expansively and climbed into bed with Jinx, making the dark red female have to scooch over a bit so Lumiere had room to get on the bed.

"Hello there, you," she said jokingly as she kissed him.

He kissed right back and wrapped his arms around her as their tails wrapped around each other in a clear display of affection. Lumiere pulled the covers back over them with his forepaw and smiled before they broke the kiss. He only closed his eyes and prepared for a couple more minutes of sleep with his… mate? No, they hadn't done the deed yet. Girlfriend? Well, she was definitely more like a close friend at this point. And she was a girl. Yeah… girlfriend sounded nice to him, and it was smooth on the tongue.

"I love you, my crimson gem," Lumiere whispered.

"I love you too, my shining light," she whispered back as Lumiere kissed her neck.

Gingerly, he stroked the side of her face, making her purr and lean into his touch. As much as they wanted to lay there all morning, however, they also wanted food and drink, as well as to see their friends. So, after about ten more minutes of rest, they both forced themselves up and out of bed, though Lumiere made sure to clean his pendant off in the sink in the bathroom they surprisingly had in there. They left the little hut in silence with their tails intertwined, Jinx leading him down the dirt pathway where Aeon had said breakfast would be served, eager for the little get-together. When they came in range of the smell, they both smiled and breathed in the sweet, morning-scented fragrance of the breakfast, and while it was nowhere near Pyra's cooking, that didn't mean it failed to make their mouths salivate. When they came to where they were supposed to, they were greeted by a large pavilion with a roof made of wooden planks supported by a few beams that shielded the inside from the light.

"Lumiere!" cried a bunch of voices at once.

Lumiere looked to see everyone rushing over to the pair of lovers, Vyra being the first to reach him and embrace him in a tight hug, followed swiftly by everyone else, until everyone besides Jinx was hugging him, asking him if he was alright and if he slept well and so forth. Vyra, of course, fussed over him like Pyra herself would've if she were there, before giving him his space to be with Jinx, who was pushed away from him by everyone when they rushed him.

"Glad to see you two have rejoined the land of the living," came Kage's voice from inside the pavilion.

Lumiere looked to see the wyvern standing behind everyone with a smile on his face, with his father standing even farther behind him with amusement.

"Well a certain _someone_ wanted a morning cuddle," Jinx said, partially jokingly and partially accusingly.

"Not my fault…" Lumiere grumbled, looking at the ground as his face flushed red.

Aeon came up with a smile on his face and said, "Well, it matters not; what matters is that you're here, and you two can finally indulge in this repast my son has prepared."

At that statement, Kage smiled pridefully and puffed his chest out with his head held up high. "Good to know my cooking is appreciated by _someone_ ," he said with a smile. "It's my way of honoring my mother."

"Yes, indeed," Aeon said with a gentle smile.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Lumiere asked.

"Oh, she passed some time ago in her sleep," Aeon replied. "But now she is with her ancestors looking down upon us."

Lumiere sensed a bit of longing in Aeon's voice, but it wasn't really sad, as if he'd accepted that she had passed on, and even believed she was still living on in some ancestral plane.

"Now, if we could actually _eat_ …" Kage said.

"Oh alright," Aeon grumbled, though there was amusement evident in his tone.

He and the others walked back under the pavillion, with Lumiere and Jinx taking up the rear, their tails once again intertwined as they sat at a wooden bench with their friends, while Aeon took up one head of the table and Kage got to work on serving everyone.

"I have a feeling Mom's gonna be _really_ insecure if she finds out about this guy," Lumiere said jokingly to Vyra, who was sitting next to him and Jinx.

Vyra chuckled and said, "She'd be in the kitchen for days on end, preparing the perfect meal."

"That," Voltia butted in, "or they'd open up a restaurant together or something."

They all shared a quiet laugh as Kage came around with plates filled with eggs, sausages, bacon, hashbrowns, and pancakes.

"How'd you even get all this stuff?" Jinx asked Kage as he set her plate down in front of her.

The black wyvern chuckled and said, "Father gets me everything I need through magic."

"How?" Vyra asked.

"He uses magic to retrieve what we require, be it for comfort, food, drink, or anything else we wish for."

Breakfast was hearty, all of them exchanging jokes, laughs, and everything of the like, effectively making them forget their problem; they were still stuck in the Dark Catacombs. But they couldn't care less, for they had finally found somewhere they could relax for the time being and forget their problems; they figured they could set out tomorrow.

After breakfast was over, everyone gave Kage their thanks and went off to do whatever it was they wanted, though Lumiere and Vyra walked away from the little group and to the edge of the waterfall, since Jinx and all the other girls wanted to talk about girl stuff, and the guys wanted to spar and talk about guy stuff, neither of which the pair of dragons wanted to do. Hence why they were where they were.

"So how're you liking it here?" Vyra asked.

Lumiere chuckled at his sister's attempt at small-talk and said, "It's nice here for the few hours I've seen it. You?"

"Yeah, I think it's really cool," Vyra replied with a smile. "Regularly, I'd say something like 'this doesn't feel right,' but this place just… makes me feel safe, I guess."

"Yeah, same here; it's been a couple days since I said I could sleep in comfort, but it feels like it was longer than that."

"Yeah… they probably didn't even have the Homecoming dance or Dragball game at school yet."

Lumiere chuckled again, taking the time to really admire the waterfall.

"Y'know…" his sister started, making him turn back to her, "I just wanted to say that, even though for that first day I kinda… hated your guts, I could never have asked for a better brother than you."

Lumiere smiled gently and said, "No one could've asked for a better sister than you."

Vyra smiled as well, and the two embraced, unknowingly comforting each other, before Lumiere smiled devilishly and broke the hug. Vyra furrowed her brow in confusion, but before she could ask, she felt herself being lifted up in the air.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she yelled.

She looked below her to see that Lumiere had lifted her up with his forepaws and was moving towards the lake at the base of the waterfall, preparing to throw her in. She yelled out in protest, but Lumiere didn't at all listen to her and threw her in the lake.

When she resurfaced she took a deep breath and spit the water out of her mouth before yelling, "You ass!"

Lumiere laughed his ass off for a good few seconds as Vyra splashed at him with her forepaws, trying to reach the white male, but he kept dodging despite the tears rolling down his cheeks from laughing. Eventually, she huffed and lunged at him, grabbing him by the horns and pulling him in. Lumiere wasn't at all prepared for this and barely got a breath in before he was submerged in the lake, soaking his scales. Vyra smiled triumphantly for a second, but when Lumiere didn't come back up, she started to worry… until Lumiere surfaced and splashed her with water. Vyra yelped in surprise, but splashed back with a smile, laughing all the while.

They did this for a couple minutes, splashing back and forth while wading through the water, and even trying to push each other into the waterfall, until a voice called, "CANNONBALL!"

They looked to see who had yelled it, but were both doused when they looked in that direction. When they wiped their eyes they saw Jinx and Voltia both swimming towards them, with everyone either running towards the lake or already jumping in, though Aeon and Kage were approaching slower, walking at a moderate pace towards the rambunctious adolescents with patient smiles on their faces. When Jinx reached them, she splashed them both with a playful grin adorning her features, much to their surprise.

"Hey, you," she said, lunging at Lumiere and embracing him in a hug as she pulled him into a kiss.

Lumiere smiled as well and kissed her right back as all their friends started horsing around, splashing each other and whatnot; at one point, Flame dunked Spyro in the water, earning him the same treatment from both Ember and Cynder, making them all laugh.

Eventually, though, they had enough of the water and got out of the water and back onto solid ground, where Aeon was waiting with a bunch of towels.

"Where the hell did he get those?" Flame asked Lumiere.

"Probably used magic," the white male replied.

Flame hummed a response and went to walk astride with Ember, who then twirled her tail around his, along with everyone else walking towards the two amused-looking wyverns. When they walked up to them, they each grabbed a towel and either nodded or whispered their thanks before finding a place to settle down with each other. Lumiere and Jinx both moved back to the edge of the waterfall, though, because of the particularly peaceful air it had, especially with the pink-colored trees and soothing sounds of the water falling into the lake, which led into the river that ran throughout the cave.

"So…" Lumiere started, trying to make conversation.

Jinx shut him up with a finger to his lips. "Just don't, Lumi; don't ruin the moment."

He was hurt at first, before seeing the playful smile on his girlfriend's face, which he then returned and complied to her request. He just grabbed her hand and moved forward for a kiss, which Jinx eagerly met.

When they broke apart, Lumiere touched his forehead to her and said both outwardly and mentally, " _I love you, Jinx."_

" _I love you too… Lumiere,"_ Jinx replied in the same verbal/mental fashion.

Lumiere smiled at Jinx's use of his full name as their tails snaked around in front of them and wrapped around each other on the side closest to the waterfall. Lumiere gingerly placed his right forepaw under Jinx's chin and tilted her head upwards so he could look once again into her dazzling scarlet eyes, his own crimson eyes pretty much begging for another kiss. Jinx giggled and moved forward, as did he, and they locked their lips in a blissful, romantic kiss as the world seemed to melt from existence.

 _M_

 **Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	17. Serious Playfulness

**Okay, I know I said two chapters, but this one's only a filler. Sorry to disappoint, but hope you enjoy anyways.**

 _M_

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_

"Are you two awake?" came the tired voice of Terrador.

Volteer groaned, as did Pyra from beside him, and opened their eyes slowly, only to be met with blinding sunlight streaming in from the windows.

"Hello?" Terrador's voice asked. "Are you awake?"

"We are now," Volteer grumbled.

"Well then come out; we must resume our watch," Terrador said.

Volteer groaned, but pulled the blankets off of himself and worked out a cramp in his leg, eventually being able to crawl out of bed, though not before sparing one last look at Pyra… his mate… as she lay still in bed.

"Pyra," he tried, only getting a groan in response. "Pyra, my love, we have to go." Another groan. Volteer sighed and shook his head. "Fine, but that just means I get the rest of the bacon." Pyra groaned yet again, but this time, she slowly sat up and pulled off the blankets, stretching out her legs and back like a cat as she stepped onto the floor.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said to her as she started to walk towards him. "You look absolutely exquisite today."

"I just woke up," Pyra groused.

"That just shows your beauty is natural and unmarred," Volteer replied with a smile.

Pyra couldn't help but smile back at the compliments, before saying with a slight blush, "Volteer… last night… that was… you were amazing."

"As were you, gorgeous," Volteer replied as Pyra closed the rest of the distance between them.

They both chuckled and walked astride towards the door, tails intertwined in the stereotypical display of love and affection. They kissed as Volteer opened the door for Pyra, who thanked him quietly as she stepped out into the carpeted, wood hallway of the inn.

As soon as Volteer, stepped out, however, she smiled at the other two Guardians, who were hiding behind a plant, and just as she turned back around to face Volteer, they jumped out and yelled, "Happy hatchday!"

Volteer jumped a bit at the sudden noise, but settled down with a smile as he looked at his three fellow Guardians with pure shock and happiness.

"You remembered…" he whispered.

"Of course," Pyra replied. "We couldn't leave it out this year."

Volteer's eyes quickly filled with tears, and he let out a happy sob as he saw Cyril standing there with a little cupcake in one forepaw, which was yellow and topped with blue frosting and a candle crudely stuck in the top.

He hugged Pyra close and whispered, "Thank you… thank you all so much…."

Pyra hugged the Lightning Guardian back and said, "You're welcome."

"I love you…" he sobbed, "I love you all so much…."

"And we you, my brother," Terrador said as he moved forward, quickly being pulled into the hug by Volteer.

After a few minutes of standing there in the embrace, they made their way downstairs and back into Dragon's Fire, where they were met with a young fire dragoness.

"Hi, table for four?" she asked.

"Actually, we're here for the bar," Terrador replied. When he caught Volteer's nervous glance, he added, "Don't worry, Volteer; we'll take it easy for the time being."

"No whiskey," Cyril agreed.

The waitress smiled and said, "Of course, just show yourselves in."

The nodded and mumbled their thanks and walked back into the bar, where they were greeted by a loud, "Ho!"

They all looked to see Duke behind the bar waving them over with a smile on his face. Volteer guided the others to the counter, where Duke was already standing with four glasses ready and a bottle of whiskey.

They took their respective seats just as Duke took the cork out of the whiskey bottle, but he stopped when Volteer said, "Not today, Duke."

He look surprised, but soon regained his smile and asked, "Had a bit too much last night?"

"Without a doubt," Volteer responded with a chuckle.

"So," Duke said, gesturing to the many shelves of bottles behind him with on hand, "what'll it be for this morning?"

"I think a couple beers will do," Volteer replied.

"What kind?"

Volteer ordered four light beers for them, and Duke took the glasses and bottle, putting them away and getting four bottles with the words "Dragon's Fire" on the cap and label; it was the bar's signature beer, hence the name. Duke came back with four bottles of Dragon's Fire and set them out in front of the group, who each simply uncapped them with their claws and took their first swig in near-unison, to which Duke smiled lightly at.

"So, did anything happen last night?" Duke asked Volteer, noticing how he was a little closer to his red counterpart than last night. "Anything having to do with a bed?"

Volteer's red face told Duke all he needed to know, and he chuckled as he looked at Pyra, whose face was also flushed red. Both Terrador and Cyril chuckled as well as they both took another swig of their respective drinks.

"Hey, I'm just yanking your chain," Duke said with a smile.

"Yes, of course; you were lucky to find someone," Terrador added.

Volteer's blush slowly went away, as did Pyra's, but his blush returned when Cyril leaned over and asked in a hushed whisper, "So how was she?"

At this, Volteer spit out the swig he had just taken and started coughing, eyes bulging as Duke and Terrador started laughing while Pyra only looked at the floor with an embarrassed smile. Volteer glared at Cyril, who only chuckled and stuck his forepaws up defensively.

"Well?" Terrador pushed.

"I refuse to answer that," Volteer groused.

"C'mon, buddy, it's just a question," Duke pressured.

"A very personal question," Volteer replied.

The others chuckled as Pyra spoke up and said with a furious blush, "Well, I'll be the one with a set of balls and say that he was amazing."

They all laughed in shock while Pyra only hugged Volteer, who groaned and set his forehead on the edge of the counter so that he couldn't see their faces, and so that they couldn't see his nosebleed. He groaned again and put his forepaw under his nose, trying to catch the blood so it wouldn't look like a murder scene. Eventually, with a sigh, he got off the barstool and ran to the bathroom that was in there, where he ripped up some tissues and stuck it in his nostrils to keep the blood in. When he walked back out, the first thing he saw was Pyra's eyes, which were both apologetic and sly, as if she was sorry about what she said, yet she wouldn't hesitate to say it again. After a split second, he noticed everyone else also looking at him with eyes of amusement, though they let him make his way back to them before they started teasing him again.

"Just tell us, Volteer!" Cyril pressured.

"Were you _not up to the challenge_?" Terrador joked, drawing a snort from everyone but Pyra.

"Alright, fine! She was amazing!" Volteer relented, afterwards groaning and closing his eyes, setting his forehead down on the edge of the counter once again, the blood soaking the tissues in his nostrils.

"Go on," Cyril said with a devilish smile.

Volteer sighed and described more than a few things about the previous night, and his friends were looking less amused and more shocked the more Volteer went on.

"Are you satisfied?" Volteer growled when he was done, lightheaded from how much blood was rushing to his head and snout.

Everyone was speechless, especially Pyra, at how Volteer shared such an intimate moment just to impress them.

Terrador was the first to come out of his stupor, breaking the silence by saying, "Ancestors… Volteer, we were only joking."

"What?!" Volteer shouted. "You mean I told you all that for nothing?"

Volteer groaned again and set his head down sideways on the countertop, sighing heavily. He didn't know why he gave into their pushing; perhaps it was a product of his childhood coming back to him, a childhood where he was made fun of and bullied constantly because he was weak, small, and a huge nerd, even though he was a master of his element at a mere fifteen years old, whereas most of his bullies couldn't even tap into their elements fully until after they graduated, hence why Volteer was chosen as the next Lightning Guardian. Yet, even with his only friends, his brothers who wouldn't think any less of him if he couldn't do something, he felt the need to impress them more than anyone, as their opinions were the ones he cared about most. If only Ignitus were still alive….

"Volteer…" Cyril tried comfortingly.

"I've humiliated myself… and Pyra…" he sighed quietly. "I need a minute… excuse me."

He pushed himself up and once again got up off the barstool, grabbing his bottle and trudging outside and to his favorite drinking spot away from the bar; right outside the door on the little porch to the left of the door. He took one of the three tables that were set up there, sitting there alone with only his bottle to keep him company.

"Just like the old days…" Volteer whispered.

He took a swig of his beer as he heard the door open.

"Volteer?" Pyra asked gently.

Volteer only huffed loudly and took another swig.

"Volteer," Pyra tried again. She sighed and made her way to the table as well, taking the seat to the right of Volteer, who wouldn't even meet her gaze and kept his eyes locked on his bottle. "Volteer, I'm not at all mad at you for what you said,"

"Shouldn't you be?" Volteer replied sadly, finally looking at her.

Pyra only grabbed the beer bottle and moved it across the table and out of Volteer's reach. She then took his forepaws into her own and rubbed them gently. "Volteer, I'm not ashamed of what we did; sure, it's an intimate moment, but it shouldn't be anything to fuss over."

Volteer looked at their hands, then back to Pyra's eyes, a slight smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.

"Thank you, Pyra… you always know what to say."

Pyra smiled as well and embraced him as best she could from her current position, with Volteer doing his best to return it. When Volteer moved back, Pyra caught his lips in a passionate kiss as their tails intertwined underneath them.

When they broke apart, Pyra said, "Happy hatchday, my love. Now let's get back inside, shall we? It's rather cold out here."

Volteer smiled and replied with, "Anything for you, beautiful."

And with that, they both got up and went back inside, leaving the beer behind and walking back in with their tails still intertwined.

 _M_

 **Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	18. New Companion

_M_

"Aeon?" Lumiere asked.

"Hmm?" the elder hummed, turning from his book.

"Is there… is there any way we could… I dunno… set out earlier?" Lumiere asked.

It had been a day since they had arrived in the Lost Cave, as they learned it was called, and life was going great. Unfortunately for Lumiere, he was the first, and only, one to remember that they still had the problem of getting out of the Dark Catacombs; no matter how comfy life was down in the Lost Cave, they didn't belong down there, plus Pyra would no doubt be worried sick, not to mention the other Guardians and their friends' parents. That, and he wanted to experience life on the surface, not cooped up down in the Lost Cave with the threat of the Mimics as real as the Cave itself; even if Aeon said that the spiritual barrier he put up would hold, he couldn't help but have his doubts.

"Earlier? Why would you want that?" Aeon asked in shock.

"Look, it's not that we don't like it down here; we really do, and it's a really nice place you guys have. But, to be frank, we don't belong here; we belong back up on the surface, where we were all born."

Aeon got over his shock and closed his book. "We will have to consult the others first, and while you bring up some good points, young one, they may not be open to the threat of Shadow back in the Catacombs, and neither will I or my son."

"Wait… you're coming with us?" Lumiere asked.

"Yes… it's time we see the surface again," Aeon replied, looking at the ceiling to the cave.

"Right… well, do you wanna do that now?"

"I think now would be the best time," Aeon reasoned.

"Alright, let's go," Lumiere said.

And with that, the old wyvern got up and followed Lumiere down to the pavilion, where everyone was gathered around Kage as he recited an old ballad from his and Aeon's day. There, they waited patiently on the edge of the group as they stared wide-eyed at the black-scaled wyvern, who told his tales in a low, mysterious voice.

When he was done, Aeon spoke up and said, "Well, that was a most entertaining story, Kage, but I believe there are more pressing matters to discuss."

Everyone in the group looked nervous, and Lumiere even caught Ember giving him a glare before he added, "We need to get back to the surface."

Everyone whispered among themselves for a moment, but it looked as if they would disagree until Jinx stood up and said, "Guys, he's right; we need to get back to our families and out of this damn maze."

Vyra also stood up and said, "Not only that, but we have lives to live up on the surface, and all of us were going _somewhere_ in life."

Now, the hushed whispers were more in agreement, though it was hesitant before Spyro spoke up and said that everyone agreed with him, Jinx, and Vyra, all three of whom smiled in relief and looked at each other.

"That, and the dragball games get pretty wild; we don't wanna miss _those_ , do we?" Cynder added lightheartedly, drawing a chuckle from everyone there.

Kage looked to his father, who by then had walked to his side, and said, "I'm sure going to miss this place."

"As am I," Aeon replied. "But we should hold this place close to our hearts in not longing, but in remembrance."

Kage only smiled at his father as the others began to get ready to set out, with mostly Aeon and Kage putting their things in pockets of magic that they could carry unrestrained and with relative ease. When that was done, they all filed towards the door as the warm light began to fade from the cave, signalling that Aeon had let go of the magic that had been keeping it in there, though he kept a small amount since they had to slowly file into the hallway so they didn't alert any of the Mimics to their presence. When Lumiere, who went first, gave the all clear, Jinx followed, before Vyra slowly padded in behind her, and so on and so on, until Aeon let the light completely drain from the Lost Cave and he closed the door for the last time, taking up the rear and forming a small light on his necklace.

"Guys, wait," Lumiere hissed.

Everyone stopped as soon as Lumiere came to a junction. Everyone waited for him to give them the okay, while he looked both ways for as far as he could, which was only a couple inches because of the crushing blackness. But he figured it was okay; if there was something in the shadows, he figured he would've seen it.

"Okay," he whispered.

Then, all of a sudden, Lumiere's scream of pain filled the long corridors, making them all jump and yell as the all-too-familiar eyes of a Mimic appeared next to Lumiere's head, the white male's neck wrapped firmly in its jaws.

"Release him!" Aeon demanded from the back, quickly making his way to the forefront of the group and making his light brighter.

But this Mimic was persistent, and only growled as it sank its teeth deeper into Lumiere's neck, making him yell out in agony.

"Release him this instant, you foul beast!" Aeon yelled.

"Lumi!" Jinx shouted.

Aeon growled loud and clear, as did the Mimic, before Aeon's chest scales began to glow green from in between his scales, and out of his mouth came a green ball of energy that hit the Mimic square in the face, narrowly missing Lumiere's own. Only then did the Mimic let go of Lumiere, making him drop to the ground, limp as a ragdoll, while Aeon demanded red crystals from Kage, who got them out of his magic pocket in a split second and throwing them to his father, who was already at Lumiere's side.

Lumiere's eyes were glowing red, and his breathing was fast, his mouth foaming as he lay there on the ground.

"Wha-what's happening to him?!" Jinx shouted in panic, tears streaming down her face.

"He's turning into one of them," Aeon replied.

Then, in an ancient, powerful voice, he said, " _Audi meam vocem… venit ad lucem… nos audire ad me…."_

Immediately, Lumiere's eyes stopped glowing, his breathing slowed, and he stopped spitting foam as Aeon pressed a red crystal the size of his fist into Lumiere's own forepaw, after which the holes in his neck started to disappear. He groaned as he sat up and put a paw to his head, closing his eyes to ward off the incoming headache.

"Are you well, Lumiere?" Aeon asked with concern evident in his voice.

"Not at all," Lumiere replied honestly. "I've got the _mother_ of all headaches right now."

"As to be expected when I've warded off the Darkness from corrupting your soul and body," Aeon stated. "I just saved you from becoming one of them."

The others, besides Kage, were standing behind Aeon in a stunned silence with a combination of awe and worry in their eyes.

"What… what language was that?" Ember asked.

"Latin," Aeon replied, "or at least a subversion or alternate version, though it's still close to the real thing."

"Latin?"

"It's an ancient language used commonly amongst us wyverns, most likely long forgotten with our extinction."

Satisfied with her answer, Ember turned back to Lumiere with worry, looking at him like all the others besides Jinx, who had to be physically pulled back by Aeon when she tried to rush to him.

"Not yet, young one; he needs to rest," Aeon said to her as she thrashed and struggled in his grip, sobbing and growling as she tried to free herself so she could wrap her arms around Lumiere.

"Let her go, Aeon," Lumiere said in an oddly loud and commanding voice.

The hall was silent once more, save for a couple sniffles from Jinx and the breathing from everyone there.

After a couple seconds of shock, Aeon sighed, "As you wish."

Aeon set Jinx back down on the ground gently, and she wasted no time running to him and wrapping both of her forelegs around his neck, crying into his shoulder as he merely returned the embrace.

"I thought I lost you…" she sobbed

"I thought I lost me too," Lumiere responded while he rubbed her back comfortingly.

Jinx pulled back from the hug and drew him into a fierce kiss that knocked him on his back, as if she were afraid that he would fade away if she were to move away.

The moment was broken by Kage saying, "I think it would be wiser to move on."

"As do I; no doubt that beast will return for blood, and with more of its dark brothers," Aeon added. "We must move quickly and quietly through these halls, for we know not where our enemy lies."

"Agreed," Lumiere said. "Cyclone, grab a torch from the wall."

The gray male did as he was told, and held the flame in his right forepaw as Lumiere lit it with his white flame, and the two were once again the Guide and Light. Lumiere's eyes started to glow again, making Aeon and Kage worry, but as they began to move, Jinx explained to them that that was normal for him down in the Catacombs when they needed to go somewhere, and he was just looking and reliving his memories. That paired with the fact that Lumiere seemed at least somewhat lucid helped calm the two wyverns.

"Where is he leading us?" Kage asked.

"No clue," Jinx replied. "Even _he_ doesn't know where we're going; he just follows his memories and visions."

"So we're practically blind to our destination," Aeon said.

"Pretty much."

"That seems dangerous if you ask me," Kage said in a low tone.

"Yeah, well there's no other way to get out of this maze besides following Lumi, so it's get in line or get left behind."

"Fair enough," Kage replied after a moment of silence.

They walked for a couple hours, everyone following Lumiere and Cyclone and talking in low, hushed tones so that the Mimics wouldn't be alerted to their presence.

"Hello?"

Lumiere perked up at the noise, as did Jinx; the noise was like nails on a chalkboard for them, for they knew exactly what that was.

"Hello?"

Cyclone moved to walk forward into the hallway where the noise came from, which was around the bend in a t-junction to their left, but was stopped by Lumiere putting a paw against his chest.

"What?" he asked. "There's a little girl down here; we have to help her."

"No, that's not a little girl," Lumiere replied in a low voice. "It's one of the Mimics trying to lure us over there; I should know, I fell for the same trick before Aeon found us."

"Mimic?" Cyclone asked; none of them had ever heard Lumiere utter the name before.

"They can shapeshift into different forms and alter their voices to mimic that of others," Lumiere elaborated.

"Oh yeah," Spyro said, "I remember one of those things pretending to be Flame."

"Yeah, then it nearly killed us before Kage was able to save us," Cynder added.

Lumiere looked back to Cyclone, who had his head low in thought. He then huffed and said, "I just wanna make sure it's _not_ a trick; there could very well be a little girl down here, all lost and alone."

"I'll go with you, then, if you're so persistent," Kage said, moving forward.

"I think that would be wise," Aeon whispered.

"Behind me, young one," Kage said to Cyclone.

The wind dragon complied and padded nervously behind Kage, who was very clearly on edge waiting for someone or something to attack them.

"Hey," they heard Cyclone say in a comforting voice. "Hey, what's your name?"

"I-Incidia," they heard a girl reply.

"Incindia…" Cyclone said. "That's a pretty name."

"Damn, they're getting smarter," Lumiere hissed under his breath.

"A-are you a monster?" Incidia asked.

They heard Cyclone chuckle and respond with, "No, I'm not, but we wanna help you get away from them. Why don't you come with us?"

Incidia sniffled once and said, "O-okay."

They heard Cyclone yelp in surprise, making Lumiere rush forward, except a chuckle from the gray wind dragon stopped him dead in his tracks. When he and Kage emerged from the hall, the first thing he noticed was the small fire dragoness clinging onto Cyclone's neck.

"Everyone," he said, "say hello to Incindia."

Lumiere's jaw dropped in not only shock, but shame; he made an assumption too quick, and it almost cost the life of a hatchling.

Incindia was regarding the group with eyes of extreme caution, making herself look smaller atop Cyclone's neck; her red scales glittered in the white flame, her gold underbelly, horns, back fins, wing membranes, and knife-like tail-blade enhancing her appearance as her orange eyes glowed with a metaphorical fire. No doubt she would grow up to be a stunning dragoness who all the males would swoon over. But this was now, and she was barely eleven years old, most likely traumatized from the Mimics and loneliness.

"C'mon, don't be shy; they're all really nice," Cyclone encouraged. "They're all my friends."

Incindia slowly raised a shaking paw and gave a small wave to everyone there.

"Well," Aeon said, making everyone look to him, "we left the Lost Cave a little later than we should've, and we've been walking for quite some time; I think we should get some rest and get ourselves acquainted with our new companion."

Aeon gestured to Incindia with a wing, making everyone turn back to her. In response, she only shrunk down lower and let out a low whimper of discomfort from all the attention.

Toxia immediately moved forward and toward Cyclone, making Incindia go rigid, her eyes full of fear.

Toxia only looked back with gentle eyes and said, "Hi, sweetie! I'm Toxia; I'm his mate."

Incindia looked to Cyclone, then back to Toxia as the poison dragoness leaned close and whispered, "But between you and me, he can be bit of a blockhead."

Cyclone sighed and shook his head in disbelief. "Really, Toxia? Do you have to tell _everyone_ that?"

"Well sorry, my love," Toxia replied, but she turned back to Incindia and mouthed, "No I'm not."

The fire dragoness smiled a bit and let out a little giggle just as Cyclone began to move forward and find a good place to settle down. Kage began reaching into his magic pocket and pulling out sleeping bags for everyone, though there were only seven, so they insisted that mates pair up. Aeon suggested that Incindia sleep close to him, but she insisted on staying close to Cyclone and Toxia, who eventually settled down farther from the rest of the group while they pointed out names of everyone there.

Everyone there talked with their mates late into the night, grateful for the rest and moment of brief relaxation, though there was one dragon who wasn't in a sleeping bag with his mate. Lumiere. He had volunteered to take up first watch so that nothing snuck up on the group, but he never forgot that his caution and untrustworthiness almost killed a hatchling. Words couldn't even begin to describe how terrible he felt about the whole thing, so much so, that even Jinx couldn't bring him out of his depressive shell. Everyone, before they had fallen asleep, had tried comforting the white dragon, saying that it wasn't his fault and that he was just being careful, besides Cyclone and Toxia, who had their hands full with Incindia. That wasn't the only reason he couldn't sleep, though; ever since he was attacked by one of the Mimics, he had been on edge, tense, waiting for something to come out of the darkness and snatch him up without anyone knowing, just like he almost was last time. Once, even, he was looking into the dark hall and saw a Mimic charging him. He only closed his eyes and braced for the pain, fear not even allowing him to scream. But when he opened his eyes, nothing was there, only the darkness of the hall.

That was five minutes ago; now, he was sitting on his haunches with his tail curled around him so that his tail blade was directly in front of him, looking into the darkness.

"E-excuse me?" asked a small, weak voice from his left.

He started with a gasp, his breathing picking up in speed and his heart pounding against his rib cage. He looked to see Incindia standing there with a cautious yet inquisitive stance, though she flinched when Lumiere jumped.

"Don't scare me like that!" he breathed after he settled down.

"O-oh… sorry…" Incindia apologized, her head, wings, and tail drooping low.

"It's fine, I'm just… I wasn't expecting you," Lumiere explained in a sad voice, which wasn't lost on the hatchling.

"What's wrong, Mister?" she asked.

Lumiere sighed loudly as he looked down on the hatchling he almost left to die, alone and afraid, in the Dark Catacombs without anyone there to comfort her. He averted his gaze and only stared at the ground as he shifted his paws uncomfortably.

"Is it the monsters?"

Lumiere only smiled sadly, nodded, and chuckled hollowly. "You're a smart little thing, aren't you?"

"Was I right?"

"Partially," Lumiere replied. "I was almost killed by one earlier, so I've been left utterly traumatized by the stupid thing."

"Yeah, they're pretty scary," Incindia agreed, sitting down next to Lumiere in the same fashion he was; on her haunches with her tail curled to where her tail blade was in front of her.

"I call them Mimics," Lumiere said, trying to make conversation, "because they can mimic whatever they want, shapeshifting and changing their voices and/or appearance to lull someone into a sense of false comfort… and that's when they strike. That's exactly what happened to me the first time I ran into one; it disguised itself as…" Lumiere looked down at Incindia and noticed with a start that it was the little girl the Mimic took the form of the first time, "as you, and it got the jump on me. Burned my chest and forearms with Shadow before dragging me out into a hall where…."

He stopped as he realized Incindia was looking up at him with wide eyes, shaking in pure fear. Lumiere let out a sigh and said, "Sorry… I'm not really used to talking to children, especially traumatized eleven-year-olds like you."

"Oh…" Incindia uttered, before they descended into a deafening silence.

Lumiere then decided to break it by asking, "Where are your parents?"

"Um… I don't know; I'm an orphan," Incindia replied sheepishly, looking at the ground. "You?"

"I've got amnesia; can't remember anything past about a month ago, including my parents," Lumiere replied.

"But at least you have all these great friends!" Incindia said.

"No…" Lumiere said, making Incindia jerk her head back in surprise, "no, for the time I've known them, they've become much more than just friends; they're family."

"But I thought you had to be related to be family," Incindia claimed.

"We are related, just not by blood," Lumiere replied. "We're related through events we've been through together, events that brought us closer together than anything; none of them could be closer to me if they _were_ of blood."

"Oh…."

Lumiere chuckled and said, "Y'know, you seem to say 'oh' quite often. Should I start calling you Oh?" Then, in a more dramatic voice, he said, "The great Queen Oh rules the city of Warfang!"

This enticed a giggle from the young dragoness, encouraging Lumiere to continue.

"Seems light on the tongue, what do you think, Oh?"

"Shut up!" Incindia laughed as she leapt at Lumiere, who, to feed into the youngling's playful mood, collapsed on his side in faux-defeat.

"Oh no! Someone help me! I've been taken down by the great warrior, Oh!"

They both giggled childishly as Incindia crawled up and held his maw shut with her two forepaws. He gave a few muffled cries, but although they were quiet, Incindia could still make out the word, "Oh." She took her paws off his maw and let him speak freely.

"So I can't call you 'Oh?'" he asked playfully.

"No!" Incindia giggled cutely.

"Fine, Oh… I mean, Incindia," Lumiere stuttered playfully, purposely messing up.

Incindia let him up and got off him, before they resumed their earlier positions, talking about a couple things, like how life was close to and at the Temple, what school's like, how things were going in school, and the big Dragball game coming up in a few days.

But they were eventually interrupted by Jinx's voice asking, "Lumi?"

Lumiere sighed went over to her side. "Sorry, did we wake you up?"

Jinx shook her head and let out a yawn before stretching like a cat. "Why don't you wake someone else up for night watch and get some rest?"

"Dunno, maybe because I didn't hear a 'please' anywhere in there," Lumiere responded playfully, still in a giddy mood.

"Oh, please, Lumiere!" Jinx cried out in a dramatic voice, making Incindia giggle. "Dost thou not love me? Please, I beg of thee; lay by my side like thou always have!"

Lumiere chuckled at his mate's playfulness. Maybe having Incindia around wouldn't be as bad of a burden as Lumiere would've imagined; she might just help lift everyone's mood. She sure as hell lifted his.

"Alright, I'll wake Spyro," he replied, before walking up to the purple dragon and nudging his side. "C'mon, Spyro, get up. I'm gonna get some shut eye."

"Mrgh… what time is it?" Spyro groaned.

"Do I look like I have a watch?" Lumiere asked.

Spyro rolled over and opened his eyes to face Lumiere, before heaving a sigh and getting up, stretching out like a cat and making his way over to Lumiere.

"Thanks, you're the best," Lumiere said appreciatively. "Oh, and try not to make too much noise; Incindia's a force to be reckoned with."

Spyro chuckled and said, "Alright; we'll try our best. Won't we, Incindia?"

Upon receiving a curt nod from the little red dragoness, Lumiere yawned and slipped into the sleeping bag with Jinx, who adjusted her body so that her back fit into his stomach perfectly. Lumiere wrapped a forearm around him and kissed her neck.

"Goodnight, my crimson gem," he whispered as he set his head down behind Jinx's.

"G'night, love," Jinx replied tiredly as they both closed their eyes and slipped into Dreamland.

 _M_

 **Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	19. Mimic Scrap

_M_

"Lumi…" a voice whispered.

"What?" Lumiere groaned back.

"Lumi, get up," the voice said.

Lumiere groaned again and said, "Five more minutes…."

"C'mon, Lumi; we have to go," the voice demanded gently.

Lumiere opened his eyes to see Jinx standing there in front of him, the torch casting a shadow on her features and making her look mysteriously beautiful.

"Jinx…" he whispered.

"What?" she asked, cocking her head one way.

Lumiere chuckled quietly and said, "You look so beautiful right now."

Jinx smiled and closed the distance between them to lock him in a kiss. She came to lay on top of him as he gently caressed her sides, and she his shoulders and neck.

When Lumiere broke the kiss, he took a look around and saw that everyone, including Incindia, was sleeping quietly in the glow of the torch, which had turned to an exquisite shade of orange that set a more romantic scene, despite where they were at the moment.

"I thought you said we had to go," Lumiere said to Jinx.

The crimson female looked sheepish and replied with, "I just wanted to hear your voice again."

Lumiere smiled gently and leaned up for another, briefer kiss, and when he pulled away once again, he said, "As long as I live, I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to make you happy, my crimson gem."

"And I you, my shining light," Jinx replied.

"Excuse me, are you two done being mushy?" asked a voice from their right.

They turned to see Vyra in her and Voltia's sleeping bag looking at them with tired eyes. They both blushed and looked away and back into each other's eyes. Vyra only groaned and rolled back over to get some more shut eye. Lumiere and Jinx, however, just kept staring into each other's eyes until Lumiere felt something nagging at him to look down the hall where he looked over when he took watch. And right there, staring right back at him from the darkness, were two beady, red eyes.

"Guys!" he hissed. "Guys, get up now!"

He watched as the Mimic slunk back into the shadows, its eyes disappearing before anyone else can see them, though the air experienced a notable drop in temperature, causing Jinx to shiver atop him.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly as everyone else started shifting in the sleeping bags.

"Guys, get up! We have to go, now! We're not safe here!" Lumiere hissed as he crawled his way out from under Jinx.

He wriggled out of the sleeping bag just as Aeon joined the world of the living.

"What in the world is the matter?" he asked Lumiere.

"We're not safe!" Lumiere hissed back.

"Well why not? We haven't seen those beasts that attacked you since you _were_ attacked!" Aeon claimed.

"No, Aeon," Lumiere replied, "I saw one just now down that hall."

"What's going on?" Incindia asked fearfully just as Cyclone and Toxia began to wake up fully.

"It's okay, honey; we just have to move," Toxia said gently to the scared hatchling.

"Why?" Incindia asked. "Why aren't we safe?"

Toxia and Cyclone looked at Lumiere, as did everyone there, just as he looked back down the hall and saw not one, not two, but six pairs of glowing red eyes staring back at them, and they were getting bigger.

"Run."

Almost everyone immediately bolted after Lumiere said this, with the exceptions of Aeon, Kage, and Jinx, who stood by his side as the Mimics continued their advance.

"Go, now," Lumiere said to them.

"B-but what about you?" Jinx asked fearfully.

"Don't worry about me; just run away," he said. He then turned to Aeon and Kage and added, "You two as well; protect them well."

"No, young one, we will stay by your side," Aeon said with determination. "After all, they're all here; they won't be able to ambush the others."

"But I don't get it, Lumi," Jinx said. "Why?"

"Why what?" Lumiere asked her.

"Why _you_? Why do _you_ have to stay behind and play the hero?" Jinx asked him.

"Because I'm the only one who can kill these things," Lumiere said, recalling how he did indeed kill two Mimics back in the room where they found the creatures of Shadow.

Jinx looked hesitant, but was urged by Aeon saying, "Go on, young one. We will keep him safe."

Jinx looked back to Lumiere, tears welling up in her eyes, but she eventually closed them, let out a shaky sigh, and nodded, trudging back to catch up to everyone else with her head and tail hung low. Lumiere turned away at this point, but he heard another sigh from Jinx before it turned to claws clicking against the stone floor in rapid succession, signalling someone had broken into a sprint.

"Lumi!"

Lumiere turned around just in time to catch Jinx as she pressed her lips into his, hugging him tightly as well. But he knew better than to resist, and instead pushed back. He knew he could very well die in this, and this could be the last time he would see Jinx before that happened.

When they broke apart, they broke apart completely, just before Jinx said, "Be careful," and ran back down the hall.

Lumiere gazed after her for a couple seconds before facing the Mimics again. What he didn't tell anyone was that he still felt residue power from when the Mimic nearly corrupted him, which was the only reason he felt confident enough in his abilities to stay behind and fight them, and even then, he had two wyverns on his side, both of which were extremely powerful.

"Stand down, beasts," Aeon said, to which the Mimics growled at, "and we might just let you live."

"Give up the child," one of them hissed, surprising Lumiere; he didn't know they could speak.

"Not while we're still alive," Kage replied, readying himself with tendrils of Shadow seeping from his scales.

Lumiere's eyes began glowing, and he reached within himself to bring his power to the forefront of his mind's eye. The Mimics began to advance on them, but Aeon didn't let them and fired a ball of green energy right into one of the Mimic's face. The Mimic in question roared and charged them, the others following suit a second later. Lumiere's eyes were now glowing fiercely, and he felt his energy building, using his elevated mana reserves to continue charging his power until the Mimics reached them, in which case they would be in for one hell of a hit. Aeon and Kage were both standing at his sides, growling and doing the same as him; charging their power for when the Mimics reached them. But they never did. Instead, Lumiere got tired of waiting and unleashed an immense amount of power, Fire and Electricity flying everywhere in the strange Fury that Lumiere had unleashed. The Mimics all went flying, but Aeon and Kage were miraculously unharmed, though they had to cover their eyes with their wings from how bright the fire was. When they put their wings down, they gasped when they saw that not only was Lumiere still standing as well, but he was glowing a combination of white and red from the Fire dancing across his scales and the lightning crackling on his hide.

"You don't threaten my friends," he growled.

"We do what we want," one of the Mimics hissed back.

"Not while I'm around," Lumiere said, directing energy to his limbs like how he did when he was meditating, though while keeping his mind attached to his elements, making it condense and encase his body in a type of armor except for around his wings, jaw, and eyes so that he still had free range of motion. He growled loudly as his eyes bounced from Mimic to Mimic, assuming a more threatening and defensive stance, letting them know through primal and instinctual language that they weren't welcome, and that they were invading his territory. They all growled back and started to advance again, though a lot slower than before.

Lumiere turned to see Aeon and Kage standing there with wide eyes. "By the Ancestors…" Aeon whispered.

"You guys go on. It's about to get really ugly," Lumiere said, turning back to the Mimics. He heard the scuttling of claws on the floor, signalling to him that they had taken his advice and ran to catch up with the rest of the group. He let more energy bunch up around his right forepaw just as the Mimics managed to form a semicircle around him. When the first one charge, all Lumiere did was dodge to the left, and when the second one came, he stood on his hind legs and threw an uppercut to the beast, making it go sliding past him thanks to the first law of physics.

"C'mon, you ugly pieces of crap!" Lumiere challenged. "Come at me!"

"Be careful what you wish for," he heard something rasp behind him.

He turned to see that three Mimics had found their way around him, allowing them all to enclose him in a tight circle. Lumiere cursed under his breath as the first attack came from his left. He fired off a ball of flame and electricity, which collided with its head, making it go flying backwards. When another came from behind he dodged and slashed with his claws, leaving a gash where his claws had met its Shadow. He hissed in pain and found that the creature had been able to sear his skin where his claws met his skin, making those scales black and charred, steaming from the Shadow that burned them. But when he looked to the Mimic, he saw that the shallow gash was glowing white, which allowed him to identify the three long claw marks along its left side. Another charged him, and he flapped his wings, hoping to escape the assault from the Mimic, but in doing so, he forgot that the ceiling was pretty low, and he went flying into the stone, hitting it with the side of his head and stunning him as he fell to the ground in a daze.

"Wh-whuh the fuck iz goin' on?" he slurred as his vision attempted to correct itself.

One of the Mimics began to step forward and stepped on his chest, making him scream in pain. He threw his head back and yelled as he felt a couple ribs crack from how much weight the Mimic forcing on his chest,

"Don't kill me!" he yelled in his dazed state.

"You'll only wish we did," the Mimic hissed above him, putting its ugly head close to his face.

"Stop!" a voice yelled, making all the Mimics turn to see who would dare interrupt them, only to all get a fireball or lightning shot to the face. The one on top of Lumiere backed off and tried to clear its vision, as it was one of the unfortunate few who received a fireball. Lumiere looked to see everyone but Incindia, Kage, and Aeon standing there with snarls on their faces, growling ferociously. At the front of the group was none other than Jinx herself.

' _Of course she would convince the others to help me,'_ he thought.

"Let him go!" she roared.

The Mimic closest to her shrieked and charged her, only to get rattled by a lightning strike from Vyra and Voltia, who were standing on either side of the fear dragoness.

"You don't mess with my brother," Vyra growled, her maw crackling with yellow electricity, as was Voltia's.

The Mimics formed a tight circle around him, and one grabbed him by the forearm. Lumiere yelled in pain as the Mimic's Shadow burned his scales, quickly turning them black under the offending beast in question. Unfortunately for it, it got a quick glob of poison to the face, and it dropped Lumiere, stumbling back and clutching its face where Cynder's poison hit. It pulled its paw back to reveal its left eye had gone out, while the other glared at the black dragoness in rage. Then, in one fluid motion, they all backed off and down the hall, allowing Lumiere to stand.

"We're getting out of this maze," Jinx growled. "One way or another."

"We shall see," the one with the missing eye hissed. "We shall see…."

Once they disappeared back into the shadow and were for sure not coming back, Jinx threw her arms around Lumiere's neck and cried happily at seeing him, for the most part, alright. "Thank the Ancestors you're alright!" she cried.

"You too," he said, still disorientated from when he flew up into the ceiling.

Jinx broke the hug and looked at him in confusion when he said this, but saw that the side of his face was red, and figured he was a little banged up from head trauma. She sighed and looked down the dark hallway for a second before leading the group wordlessly away and back to the rest of the group. After a couple minutes of wandering, Lumiere got his bearings about him and began leading them to where Aeon and Kage were waiting with Incindia.

"Good to see you alive," Kage said with relief in his voice.

"Indeed," was all Aeon said.

"Thanks, but do you have any red gems? Kinda need them right now," he said, not meeting their eyes. They looked to see why and focused on the side of his head.

"What happened?" Kage asked.

Lumiere flushed red and said, "Flew up into the ceiling."

For a moment, everyone was silent, but it was then broken by Kage and Aeon bursting into loud, hearty laughter that echoed down the hall for probably a couple miles. At their laughing, Lumiere growled and mumbled something under his breath about fighting for his life. Without anymore words, Lumiere's eyes started glowing as he found the passage to where they were supposed to go.

The weird thing was, he didn't know how he knew where they were supposed to be going; he hadn't had any visions since they entered the room with the Shadow orb. Ever since then, it was more like the path they were supposed to follow glowed slightly, which was barely enough for him to notice, much less follow, and he very nearly led everyone down the wrong path a couple turns back.

A couple hours later found the group once again camped out in another tomb, which belonged to what looked like a wyvern of Shadow, judging by the black color of its scales in the painting. Thankfully, Cyclone knew better than to push the top off the stone coffin that belonged to this wyvern, so they were spared the sight of the bones of a long-dead warrior. The painting were like that of the ones they found in the first tomb, and the writings on the walls were another constant that made the overall vibe of the room very creepy, yet very secure for whatever reason.

"What does that say?" Incindia asked, pointing to a stream of words.

Aeon turned to her and smiled patiently, saying, "It is a spell to protect us from all that is evil."

"What does that say?" she asked, pointing to another stream of words.

"It is a blessing for whoever is down here."

"What does that say?"

"It is a well-wish for those in the afterlife."

"What does that say?"

"It is a spell that heals when uttered, be it physically, mentally, or emotionally."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that when the spell is said out loud, then the target will be healed."

"Oh. What does that say?"

This continued between the two for a couple minutes, Cyclone and Toxia looking on in amusement, occasionally turning to each other and kissing each other and leaning on each other.

"We set out in an hour," Kage said.

"Why an hour?" Spyro asked.

"Because Lumiere proved that no matter what, we won't be safe," the black-scaled wyvern responded.

"No, we're safe here," Lumiere said, looking at the first string of words Incindia pointed out and asked about.

"How do you know?" Voltia asked.

Lumiere ran his forepaws over the words, which read, " _Ut vos hic, quia de malis custodimini."_

"May you rest here in peace, for you are guarded from all evils," Lumiere translated.

"How do you know what that says?" Kage asked, translating the same thing in his head.

"Don't know, it just came to me," Lumiere replied.

"Can you translate anything else?" Kage asked, intrigued.

Lumiere looked at the wyvern, looking below to see if he could translate this wyvern's name like last time when he translated his own name. And he could.

"This one says, 'Here lies Engel the Wanderer, he who warned against the Assault of Mortus. May his travels in the land of the living serve as experience for the land of the dead'"

"Engel?" Kage asked curiously.

"Do you know who that is?" Lumiere asked.

"No, I don't," Kage replied.

"What about Mortus?"

"That name does ring a bell," Kage said thoughtfully. "I believe he was the one who created the World Destroyer, and nearly shattered reality as we know it by doing so."

"So he's bad news?" Lumiere asked.

"The worst of the worst," Kage replied.

"Thank the Ancestors we don't have to see _his_ wretched form again," Aeon remarked.

"You've seen Mortus?" Kage asked.

"I've fought him personally." Kage was about to ask something else, but Aeon stopped him and said, "Enough on the matter; for now we should rest while we can. While we are safe."

"Yes, Father," Kage replied, nodding and walking over to the hallways and lying down to the side of it.

Jinx and Lumiere continued looking around the room, Lumiere trying to find another line he could translate. Unfortunately, the spell against evil and the brief obituary under the picture of Engel were the only lines he was able to decipher. That is until they came across one in the center of the room.

"I can read this one," he said, making Jinx and Spyro, who was closest to them at the moment, perk up.

"What's it say?" the purple dragon asked curiously.

"Do you want me to translate or activate the spell?" Lumiere asked.

"As long as it's nothing that's gonna kill us, I don't have a preference," Jinx said.

"How about you activate it?" Ember suggested, overhearing the conversation.

Lumiere gained a light smile as he prepared to utter the spell. His eyes glowed and he began channelling his unique elemental energy through him.

" _Ne Vindicis aciem cogitarent quod alii dicunt: locus enim in quo tu pulchra es in sempiternum. Pax et conserva cor tuum ad pulchritudinem prope."_

After Lumiere said this, the letters of the spell he uttered began to glow a soft orange, filling him with a soft sense of pleasure from the tip of his snout to his tail blade. It was as if the room had just automatically adjusted the temperature so that he felt perfectly comfortable, though he knew that it was probably just the effects the spell had on the room. Still, he couldn't help but bask in the feeling being in that room suddenly gave him, and as he looked to Jinx, he could tell that she was also experiencing what he was; a heightened sense of euphoria and security.

"What was that?" she asked.

Lumiere looked back at the glowing letters as he let the feeling sink in, and replied with, "Think not of what others say, for in this room, you are forever beautiful. Be at peace and keep beauty close to your heart."

"Gotcha," was all Jinx said before she leaned on Lumiere, who embraced her as Kage and Aeon got the sleeping bags ready for another night of rest. They all got their respective sleeping bags from earlier and laid them out so that they were gathered around the soft glow of orange the spell provided. Kage also provided them with a meal, which was unfortunately only a bit of salted meat, but they ate it without hesitation and talked with each other, feeling as if they were back in the Lost Cave, or even back on the surface.

"So, Lumiere," Cynder started, looking to him, "how's Jinx treating ya?"

Lumiere chuckled and looked at his girlfriend, who was conversing with Ember and Vyra as they ate, and took the time to once again appreciate her beauty.

"She's amazing," Lumiere replied dreamily, almost as if in a trance.

Cynder chuckled and said, "Y'know, I never expected _her_ to approach _you_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lumiere asked, turning to her.

"I didn't think we would get in this mess, so I thought it'd be _you_ asking _her_ out," Cynder replied with a cheeky smile.

"Out? Where would we go?" Lumiere asked.

"Dragon's Fire. Where else?"

"No, we go there too regularly for me to take her out there; I'd have to take her out to like a fancy restaurant or something in the center of Warfang."

"Do you even _know_ any restaurants in the center of Warfang?" Cynder pointed out.

"No, but my adopted mother's kinda the Head Guardian, so I figured if anyone knew the city, it'd be her. She would recommend a place, maybe even give a little money, I'd polish my scales, take a shower, shine my pendant, and we'd go out to eat."

"So you _were_ listening to our little 'lessons,'" Cynder said, her smile turning smug.

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter, did I?" Lumiere retorted, giving his own sly smile.

"Well…" Cynder started, looking to Spyro, who was conversing with Flame, "this purple ball of scales and fun took me out to a place called 'The Vineyard." It's a really upscale restaurant right smack dab in the center of Warfang, in that little plaza where all the rich folks go to hang out, called 'Independence Square.'"

"The Vineyard, huh?" Lumiere asked with a skeptical smile.

"Yeah, it's a restaurant _and_ a brewery, and their wine is _amazing_ ," Cynder claimed. "It's an acquired taste, but with a candle, it sets a nice romantic scene."

"Wine?"

At Lumiere's sly look, Cynder blushed and said, "What? It set the scene, and it really was amazing! It was hard not to ask for refills…."

Lumiere chuckled and looked back at Jinx, and said, "I think I'll take your advice. Maybe for the holiday…."

Cynder got her blush under control and said, "You might want to hold out on that one; the next big holiday is Thanksgiving, so it might be crowded then. Try Christmastime, especially since there's a certain question you'd be able to pop then."

Cynder winked, and Lumiere's eyes widened at what she was implying. "No way either of us are ready for kids! We're not even _mates_ yet!"

Cynder smiled at Lumiere and said, "I see you two kissin' and huggin' each other all the time. If she's not your mate, what is she to you?"

"Girlfriend," Lumiere replied immediately.

Cynder only gave him a look.

"What're you guys talking about?" Jinx asked, turning away from Ember and Vyra to focus on him.

"U-uh, nothing!" Lumiere stammered nervously.

' _Fair enough,'_ Jinx laughed in his head, letting out a small giggle outwardly.

' _Fuck…'_ Lumiere thought to himself.

"Nice try hiding things from me," Jinx teased.

"Thanks," Lumi replied sarcastically.

Next to him, Cynder and Spyro burst out laughing as Cynder filled him in on what he had missed, and what Jinx had done to find out, as did Flame, who overheard the whole thing anyways. Vyra and Ember looked at them like they were crazy, while Cyclone and Toxia were keeping Incindia busy and the two old wyverns looking on simply didn't care enough to listen. But Flame was a loud talker by nature, so everyone in the room heard, after which Ember and Vyra joined the other three in their laughing, while the other five only smiled lightly before busying themselves again. Lumiere rolled his eyes at his friends and only set his head down on his forepaws with a grumble. Closing his eyes, he waited for his friends' cackling to fade away and for sleep to take its hold.

"Lumi?"

Lumiere opened one eye to see Jinx looking at him apologetically, while the others had also adopted looks of shame.

"What?" he groused.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier," Jinx said. "Look, I can't help that I can read minds; it's something that just kinda happens. But what I _can_ help is what comes out of my mouth, and I didn't, and I'm sorry for that."

"It's alright," Lumiere replied nonchalantly, closing his eyes again.

"Lumi," Jinx called. Lumiere opened one of his crimson eyes and glanced at her. "Don't you wanna at least hang out more? I mean, this is probably the only time we'll have to do that."

"No, I'm tired," Lumiere said closing his eye.

"Lumiere, please," Jinx pushed.

Lumiere grumbled and turned away from the light. "Too tired right now… let me sleep… need… sleep…."

Lumiere passed out then, oblivious to Jinx getting up, padding over in front of him, and settling down so that his form curved around hers like she usually did. A couple seconds later, Lumiere unconsciously moved his arm so that it curled around Jinx's midsection. After that, the others settled down for the night as well, all of them surrendering themselves to death's distant cousin.

 _M_

 **Just as a side note, the Latin spells may not be accurate; I kinda just threw them into Google translate. Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night.**


	20. Visions

**WARNING! EXTREME AND _VERY_ GRAPHIC VIOLENCE! It's just a dream, and the text is italicized, so if you want to skip over it, do so by all means, but I can't take it out because it'll play a role later in the story, nor can I tone it down because of the impact it has on Lumiere, so... sorry about that; I was kind of in a dark place when I wrote that part. On a side note, I did change the story cover, so let me know if it's at an okay resolution, or if I should make it better. Enjoy.**

 _M_

" _Wh-where am I?" Lumiere asked himself. "Ngh… why does everything hurt?"_

 _And he was right; his whole body felt like it was on fire, his muscles felt overused, and his throat was parched with thirst. He felt as if he had fought a long, hard battle against a very powerful enemy. He opened his eyes to horror; bodies of dragons old and young lay scattered on the once grassy plain in the masses, their blood staining the soil and making it muddy, all of them horribly mutilated to the point where some of their elements couldn't even be recognized. Lumiere's mouth dropped open in pure shock as he was hit with the smell of putrid death; the air smelled of blood, decay, and metal, as if there really_ was _a large-scale battle._

" _Help!"_

 _Lumiere went rigid at the cry and his eyes brimmed with tears at knowing he would never be able to help whoever had given the vain cry. Nevertheless, he hauled himself to his feet, despite the intense burning sensation in his legs and how terribly tired he felt; he wanted nothing more than to just collapse back on the ground and drift off to a nice, painless slumber, but his morality won out, and he trudged with a heavy body to where the cry came from._

" _I'm coming!" he called back in a hoarse voice._

" _Lumiere!"_

 _Wait… why did that voice sound so familiar? It couldn't just be him, could it?_

" _Lumiere, where are you?"_

 _Lumiere heard them scream, which was followed by an evil laugh that sent shivers down his spine that in turn rebounded and made his head explode into stabbing pain. He growled in pain and quickened his pace to a slow trot, making the burning in his legs increase tenfold, but his will increased twentyfold._

" _Where are you?" he called._

 _The scream sounded again, and he followed it through the pile of already-decaying bodies. He fought the urge to bend over and puke his guts out at the sights and smells and tried to stop himself from slipping on the wet grass. Eventually, he rounded a mountain of bodies and came across none other than Incinida. But it was not the Incindia he met in the Catacombs._

 _Instead of being small and helpless, easily able to fit on Cyclone's neck, she was now bigger, showing that she'd aged a few years, and now stood up to his torso. Her scales had not lost any of their shine, instead becoming even more lustrous and beautiful. Her proud golden horns and tail blade were both already completely grown, and her wing membranes looked as if they were liquid gold. Her back fins waved in the wind like flags, her golden eyes sparkling in the sunlight._

 _She, however, looked to him horrified, as she was not only bleeding from several lacerations on her body, neck, and head, but she was backed up to a wall of bodies by a Mimic with a missing eye. At his feet… lay the bodies of all his friends and family, save for Incindia and Jinx. The Mimic looked back at him, and he saw it smirk._

" _Surrender now, and the girl and your mate live," it hissed in a malevolent, multilayered voice that shook his to his core._

" _Go, Lumiere, get out of here! Not you too!" Incindia screamed at him._

 _The Mimic scowled and moved forward, grabbing Incindia by one of her horns and dragging her, throwing her to the floor before positioning its bloodied, axe-like tail blade over her head like an executioner._

" _Surely you are not worth more than a little girl," it taunted him. He made eye contact with Incindia, but she merely nodded and jerked her head to the left, signalling for him to get out of there. "Three…" the Mimic started, holding the blade even higher. Incindia started to cry, her will to live obviously shattered. "Two…." Lumiere tried to say something,_ anything _, to get the Mimic to stop, and even tried attacking it. But his feet wouldn't budge, and his vocal chords didn't respond to his brain's commands. "One." Lumiere tried to, at the very least, turn away. His muscles wouldn't respond, though, and he was forced to watch as the Mimic cleaved Incindia's head from her young body. Only then was Lumiere's movement, and voice, restored to him._

" _NO!" he cried, seeing Incindia's head rolling to the side, her eyes now dark and lifeless. "You monster! YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" Lumiere roared at the Mimic. Much to his terror, though, the Mimic only started to laugh maniacally, sending a shiver down his spine. But he charged the Mimic, all pain forgotten, and leapt up on its back as the Mimic tried to rear up to stop Lumiere's sudden assault. He didn't care about the burning pain of the Shadow now peeling his scales off his paws, he didn't care that the rest of his body was aching torturously, and he_ certainly _didn't care that this Mimic could easily decapitate him with its tail. All he cared about was avenging his friends. His family. His_ only _family._

 _Lumiere slashed, clawed, and bit at the Mimic's back and neck, burning his gums, teeth, and the pads on the bottoms of his paws in the process, until the Mimic reached around with its tail, wrapped it around Lumiere's neck, burning the scales there, and tossing him off and into the ground roughly. He felt something in his chest give out, as well as his left arm and wing, signalling that they had been broken by the impact. The Mimic smirked evilly and padded towards him, stepping on his side with one forepaw and burning the scales there, until they too were peeling off, revealing the soft, tender flesh underneath._

" _Good effort," the Mimic said sarcastically. "But it was never enough. Face it; you failed your friends, the only family you've ever had. And worst of all, you failed your mate. As soon as I kill you, I'll tell the others to do with her as they please. But they won't kill her, at least not right away. No, they will do to her what she had only allowed you to do before; they will defile her most sacred parts and make sure she can't scream."_

" _No… I won't let you…" Lumiere wheezed._

" _I'm afraid you won't have much choice in the matter," the Mimic remarked. "After all, what can a dead dragon do to help the living?" The Mimic lifted its tail blade over its head and positioned it to come down on Lumiere's neck. "Any last words, dragon?"_

" _I… I'm sorry…" Lumiere whispered._

" _Noble last words, but they won't be able to save you from your fate. Say goodbye."_

 _And with that, the Mimic brought down its tail blade with a sadistic grin._

 _M_

"AHH!"

The yell Lumiere gave cut the silence in the Catacombs, and the halls made it echo, making it more creepy.

"Lumi! What happened?" Jinx asked.

Lumiere's whole body was rigid, his eyes wide open looking at nothing in particular and his heart hammering in his chest. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and he was panting heavily as if he'd flew around the world.

"Lumi…" Jinx tried quietly. When that didn't work, she gently brushed his arm, making him jump and turn to her with his claws ready to bring themselves down on their attacker. "Lumi…?"

Lumiere was still panting, and his heart was still going a million miles an hour, but he attempted to calm himself down. His loud yell had caused everyone to jump up as well, and they were now all looking at Lumiere, concerned for their friend. Especially Vyra.

"What happened?" she asked.

All Lumiere did was look at her with eyes of both sadness and relief, and she didn't need words to say that the dream had something to do with everyone in the room. Something very grim.

"What's wrong?" Incindia asked.

Lumiere turned to face her, but upon locking eyes with her, tears brimmed his own and he had to turn away, still remembering what the Mimic had done in his dream. He turned away and focused on the floor, where the spell was still glowing orange.

"I…" he started, trying to find the words that would make everything go back to normal.

"Lumi…" Vyra said, walking up and putting her forearm around his shoulder.

Lumiere couldn't take it anymore; he burst into tears and pulled Vyra into a bear-hug, his tears moistening her scales as he cried for them. But while he was crying at seeing them die, he was just relieved that everyone, in reality, was alright. He sobbed quietly, their echoes carrying on through the halls and striking a certain chord in everyone's heart. Everyone, besides Aeon, Kage, and Incindia, who were still confused, walked up and hugged the white male, who just accepted all of their embraces, relishing in their company, because he didn't know when that company would cease to exist.

 _M_

After the third day of waiting, the Guardians were getting impatient. They had no way of telling where the exit was, and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to navigate the Catacombs without a guide of some sort, and all those who built the maze had been dead for thousands of years. Even Terrador, who was the most patient of them all, began to get snappy, as did all the Guardians. But Pyra and Volteer were a little less impatient, despite Volteer's eccentric nature and the fact that Pyra's two children were down there, and they often times found themselves in each other's arms throughout the day, assuring each other that everything would be alright.

"So what'll it be today, guys?" Duke asked as the four Guardians entered.

"The usual; Dragon's Fire," Terrador replied.

Duke only nodded and smiled as he got five bottles from the shelves, placing them in front of the Guardians and himself, just like he had for the past few days. They made a few attempts at small-talk for a couple minutes, but none of them could find a good topic for conversation and settled for the silence, which was only broken by the occasional sip of beer.

Suddenly, though, a female voice rang out, "Uncle!"

They all turned to see a young ice dragoness about the same age as all those in the Catacombs.

Cyril smiled gently and got off his stool. "Winter!"

"Hey, kid, you can't be back their!" said an earth dragon.

An old voice boomed, "Let her; she hasn't seen her uncle in over ten years."

Cyril looked to see both his niece and Iciclis standing there with smiles on their faces.

"Brother," Iciclis greeted, walking towards the group.

"Brother," Cyril replied, meeting the teacher halfway. They embraced heartily, as they hadn't seen each other in, as Iciclis stated, ten years; Cyril's Guradianhood kept him busy, as did Iciclis's teaching, and Cyril was surprised that they even had enough time for this short chance meeting.

"Good to see you, brother," Cyril greeted. "How's teaching at the academy?"

"Good to see you as well, and it's going about as well as you'd expect; pays well, kids are fairly good, though some of them fall asleep in class, and I have to go around waking them up," Iciclis replied.

"And how's my favorite little princess?" Cyril asked, bending down to face Winter.

"I'm fine, Uncle," Winter replied cheerily.

"How are your studies in the element of Ice?"

"They're… well," she replied.

"Oh, come now, Winter; you've been doing excellently," her uncle stated.

"What happened?" Cyril asked.

Winter shrugged a bit and adopted a sheepish expression. "I… got a 98% on the Ice elemental test…."

"A 98%?! That's great!" Cyril encouraged.

"You don't get it," Iciclis chuckled. "She's like her mother; she doesn't take anything less than 100%."

"Ah, I see," Iciclis replied. He then directed his attention to the other three Guardians and said, "A pleasure to see all of you again."

"You as well," Terrador replied, walking up and embracing Iciclis. He embraced Pyra next, then Volteer, then took a seat at the counter. Winter said she had to go study for another test she had, so she wasn't able to join them just yet, so the adults were free to drink for a few more hours.

"What'll it be for you?" Duke asked Iciclis.

"I'll have what they're having," he replied.

Duke smiled and said, "One Dragon's Fire coming right up."

He got another bottle for Iciclis and popped it open with his claw before handing it to Iciclis. He took a sip and let out a sigh.

"It's been awhile," he said flatly.

"It had been for all of us before we came in here," Terrador replied.

Iciclis chuckled and asked, "Remember when we pulled that prank on Magnis in our freshman year?"

Volteer chuckled and said, "How could we forget? We planned the whole thing for a few weeks, waiting for the right moment to drop that bucket of water on his head."

"The look on his face," Pyra laughed. "Priceless."

"Indeed," Cyril agreed.

Terrador thought for a bit before asking, "Remember that game of Spin the Bottle we played after Homecoming?"

"Ignitus was in the closet with Kindle for twenty minutes!" Volteer remembered.

"And what about you?" Terrador asked playfully.

"I wasn't ever in the closet with anyone; I didn't play that night," Volteer claimed.

"You sure?" Pyra asked with a smile. "Anything you would like tell me?"

Volteer only beamed triumphantly and replied with, "Not a thing, my dear."

Iciclis arched an eyebrow at this comment, but Terrador leaned over and whispered, "They became mates three nights ago."

"Finally," Iciclis responded.

"So what are you doing here, brother?" Cyril asked. "Surely this is no chance meeting."

"It is not; I heard about… Pyra's children and Volteer's niece being stuck in the Dark Catacombs, and I figured they could use the comfort, as could I. They're all good kids, and I would like nothing more than for them to return unharmed."

"Thank you, Iciclis, but this wasn't necessary," Pyra said with a smile.

Iciclis nodded, but said, "I believe it _was_ necessary; I always help those in need, even if they don't want it, and even if what they need isn't what others think."

Volteer and Pyra both looked gratefully at the teacher while holding each other close. He was right; they could use the comfort, and after three days, it would've been welcome regardless.

"Thank you, Iciclis; this has been a real treat," Volteer said with a broad smile.

"So you guys all knew each other I'm guessing?" Duke asked.

"From our days back in the academy," Terrador confirmed. "We all stuck together in one group, since we weren't welcome anywhere else; everyone back in school called us the "freak show.'"

"Geez… so you guys had it rough?"

"From the very beginning," Iciclis replied.

"Ah… I feel ya; sucks being stomped on by literally everyone you know," Duke said. "Used to get punked and bullied all the time, and it only got worse when I joined the school. Even in the Warfang Regime, I was always the laughing stock."

Everyone shared a moment of silence, once again only being broken by the occasional sips from all six adults.

Feeling that the heavy mood needed to be broken, Iciclis asked, "What do a girlfriend and a laxative have in common?"

"What?" Terrador asked, confused.

Iciclis got a sly grin and said, "They both irritate the crap out of you." The bar erupted into laughter, as Iciclis had said the joke rather loudly. Iciclis took that as a sign to continue, so he asked, "What do a female and a bar have in common?" He gave Duke a look at this, and the whole bar shut up in that instant, waiting for a response. "Liquor in the front, poker in the back." Again, the whole bar lit up with cackling laughter that lifted everyone's spirits.

After getting ahold of himself, Terrador said to Duke, "I think we'll take a shot of whiskey to go around."

"One shot of whiskey, comin' right up, sir!" Duke replied, getting the bottle and a couple shot glasses.

"How is life like a penis?"

Everyone went quiet at this, but it was because they eagerly awaited the answer. Iciclis let it hang in the air for a couple seconds before saying, "It's the females who make it hard."

At this, Pyra smacked him upside the head with her tail, but the smile on her face was a dead giveaway to what she thought of the joke.

 _M_

 **And with that, I wrap up Phase II. Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	21. Betrayal

**_Phase III_**

 _M_

The walk throughout the Catacombs was completely silent. No one would speak to anyone, not even Ember or Flame, who always had something to say to one another or someone else. But they knew better than to break the quiet; it was a delicate mood, and Lumiere was barely keeping it together as it was. He was just focused on following the path so that he could get them all out of the maze that had put them through both Heaven and Hell, so that he could get them all back to their families, and so that they could live full lives without having to worry about anymore mess like this. After all, they could've avoided all this had he just stayed home and trusted his sister and mother.

But after walking for about three hours, the company reached a large double-door made completely of stone, with the pattern of a tree carved into the surface. Above the doorway was a sentence written in Latin.

" _Quidam secreta non solum optimus reliquit."_

"What's it say?" Jinx asked Lumiere.

Lumiere narrowed his eyes and attempted to decipher the line, but couldn't do so for the life of him.

"I… can't tell," he replied in a shaky voice.

"Aeon?" Jinx asked the elder.

"The writing is too faded for my old eyes," the wyvern responded. "I'm afraid I'm not able to read it either."

Jinx sighed and asked Kage, but he replied with, "It's too faded for me as well. I'm sorry, young one."

"It looks like we _need_ to read it to get in, though," Ember pointed out.

"Great…" Spyro grumbled.

"So… what is it, then?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know; I've not visited this part of the Catacombs in almost a century," Aeon replied. "And even if I _did_ , I would never have gone past this door, what with the dark runes surrounding it."

The rest of them looked and saw runes of what looked to be ancient draconic lining the door and even on the walls around it.

"What do they say?" Vyra asked.

"I dare not utter those spells of darkness here, or anywhere else for that matter. They are evil, ancient spells, full of malice and hatred beyond comprehension."

"Will it… like… kill us?" Flame asked nervously.

Aeon looked at the young Fire dragon and darkly said, "You'll only wish you were dead."

Flame started shaking on the spot, but Voltia, being the curious student she was, asked, "What do they do?"

"It depends on what spell is spoken," Aeon explained. He pointed to one with his claw and said, "If that one were to be uttered, both the speaker and the target for the spell would be cast into darkness and forced to serve evil until they parish, and up until that point, they are in pain." He pointed to another and said, "If this one were spoken, you would unleash a dark, parasitic spirit that would feed off both your happiness and luck, until it is sated, leaving only a husk of a living being remaining. Often times, however, these spirits are not sated for near fifty or, dare I say, sixty years." He pointed to another, "And this one would kill you in the most horrific ways imaginable while putting you into a catatonic state in which you see nothing but your greatest fear."

"Who were they used by?" Voltia asked.

"They were only activated if accidentally uttered by poor passersby who happened upon them. They are almost never originally spoken; most dark mages write them and leave them for unfortunate souls to find."

"I see…" Voltia replied.

"Alright, how about we focus on getting this door open?" Ember asked.

"Alright, what does the text say in _Latin_ , Lumi?" Jinx asked gently, careful not to say anything to harshly or commanding to preserve his mood.

Lumiere took a deep breath and squinted to see the old, faded text and eventually said it, albeit with a lot of errors and stuttering.

"What?" Aeon asked, as if in disbelief.

"What? What's it mean?" Jinx asked.

Aeon paused before saying, "I think it would be wiser to move on."

"Why? What's it say?" Vyra pushed.

Aeon took a deep breath and swallowed before saying, "It means 'Some secrets are best left alone.'"

The group didn't know how to take this, and instead let silence reign once again. Then, Lumiere closed his eyes and dipped his head. "This door is the only landmark we've seen in how long?" he asked everyone. To this, Aeon was silent. "What's behind this door might be our only way out."

" _Might_ be!" Aeon insisted. " _Might_ be! Or it harbors dark, ancient entities looking to cause trouble to the outside world!"

Lumiere opened his eyes and lifted his head, twisting it around to meet Aeon's gaze with his glowing red eyes. In a steely, commanding voice, he said, "We are going through this door. Whether you like it or not." He then turned back to the door and repeated what he said before, only this time, extremely fluently, to which he was met with a dull, creaking sound. The tree on the door started to glow white, and the door itself began to open into whatever room awaited them. Lumiere didn't hesitate to walk into the room, followed by Jinx, Vyra, Voltia, then everyone else.

The room they had entered looked a lot like the Chronicler's halls, only instead of an hourglass in the middle, there was a large crystal. A large, purple crystal that held a singular dragon.

"The Dark Master…" Spyro whispered in disbelief.

"I thought…" Cynder gasped, not able to finish her sentence before the tears came to her eyes. "I thought we were done with him…" she cried in between her sobs.

"We all did," Vyra said sadly.

All Aeon did was glare at Lumiere, who then said, "Well then let's break that damn thing and kill him."

Lumiere walked forward, but a loud voice stopped him.

"STOP!"

Lumiere looked to behind him to see no one there, but the only signal to the fact that the voice wasn't in his head was that everyone else was looking around with wide, startled eyes.

"Kirk?" Lumiere whispered.

"Yeah, it's me!" Kirk's voice echoed. "And I am _not_ about to let your dumb ass break that damn crystal and unleash Hell on Earth again!"

"Who is that?" Vyra asked.

"Then what do you suggest we do, huh?!" Lumiere yelled back.

"Leave that damn thing alone and get the hell outta here!" Kirk shouted.

"Why?! Why can't we just kill him?!" Lumiere screamed.

"Because he's too powerful to kill!" Kirk shouted. "You can't kill a creature of darkness like the Dark Master! His body may be mortal, but his soul is eternal!"

Spyro flinched at those words.

"Then we kill his body!" Lumiere suggested angrily.

"And risk unleashing an even worse beast?!" Kirk yelled back.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Lumiere snarled.

"Lumi…" Jinx spoke, "maybe you shouldn't shout at the mysterious invisible voice."

Lumi sighed, but threw an arcane gesture towards the ceiling in hopes that Kirk saw it. In response, however, Lumiere felt a jab at his conscious, as if someone had stabbed it with a sword; it was a difficult feeling to comprehend, much less describe as anything other than pure agony. He clenched his eyes and fell to the floor with a scream just as a bright light filled the room. Everyone covered their eyes with whatever they could until the light faded. When they all looked, there was another white dragon standing over Lumiere, though unlike his smaller counterpart, this dragon was completely white except for his eyes, which were sky-blue. His wings were oddly feathered, as was his tail, which were both black, he had two sets of horns, one normal and the other like a ram's, and upon his brow was the Symbol of Chryosis.

Everyone took a step back as he took a step towards them.

"Do you have any idea just how stupid you are?" the dragon asked Lumiere, who was still writhing in pain. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and he could feel all his limbs again. He stood up, but he was quickly grabbed by the throat by the white dragon. All around them, apes began to appear from out of nowhere, no doubt concealed by some form of magic. Lumiere choked for a breath, but the dragon held on tight.

"Who… are… you…?" Lumiere managed.

He was hefted off the ground by the newcomer as the apes cheered and cackled. The white dragon leaned close and whispered, "I'm sorry," before throwing Lumiere across the room. He collided with a wall, making it cave in with the momentum behind the throw. Lumiere groaned, stuck in the wall and gasping for breath. He tried to wiggle loose using his wings, but a fierce, intense pain traveled all the way up his back when he tried, and he had to bite back another scream as the apes advanced on him.

"Stay away from him!" Jinx yelled.

She tried to move to help him, but the new white dragon flapped his wings and landed in her path. The apes weren't at all gentle pulling Lumiere out of the wall, and when they did, they all but threw him to Jinx, who growled in response.

The white dragon regarded them for a second catching Aeon's eye, whose own were widened in shock.

"The Bone Master!" he cried.

"I see you remember me by my old alias," the white dragon replied. "But now, you can call me Angelus."

"Angelus?" Kage asked, before taking a look at Angelus's wings. "Angel?" he translated.

Angelus chuckled and looked at his wings before saying, "That is what my name translates to, yes. And where I was from, they used to call me the Angel of Death."

"What do you want?!" Jinx screamed at him.

Angelus regarded her for a minute. "I'm here for prisoners."

"Prisoners?" Spyro asked boldly. "Prisoners to who?"

"The Dark Master," Angelus replied. "He is not as idle and helpless as he seems at the moment. He uses his dark conscience to relay his orders through me. And for now, his orders are to gather six prisoners."

"You will not lay a claw on them," Aeon said, pushing Jinx back and stepping in front of all of them.

"It would be wise to move, elder one," Angelus said.

"It would be wise to back down," Aeon replied.

Angelus looked disappointed and said, "It is death, then. A shame."

Quick as lightning, Angelus appeared in front of Aeon and pushed him back a couple feet, making Aeon lose his footing. Aeon growled and got back to his feet to charge at Angelus with his claws outstretched. Angelus only smashed Aeon's head with his tail, which made the feathers there become matted before returning to normal as the tail and its owner turned back around to face the now-downed elder wyvern.

"You've lost your touch," Angelus said with sympathy. "It really will be a shame to kill you." Angelus got close to Aeon and whispered, "As zísoume to pnévma sas kai na sas kathodigísoun oi prógonoí sas." As he said this, Aeon's body began to glow blue and green, before it slowly began to disintegrate. "Pigaíno. Na eíste me tous progónous sas kai na xekourasteíte kalá." Aeon's eyes went wide as he watched himself dematerialize, his glowing essence being carried away by the wind, before it lost its glow. When nothing was left but his head, he adopted a calm look and gazed into his son's eyes one last time, before the old wyvern was no more.

"NOOOO!" Kage screamed, his wail of agony being carried throughout the halls of the Dark Catacombs. He launched himself at Angelus with nothing but rage and bloodlust in his eyes. "Et fragmen stercore!"

Angelus caught Kage midair by the neck, choking him as he did Lumiere, before slamming the black wyvern down on the ground, leaving a decent-sized dent in the stone floor.

"Meióste," Angelus uttered.

After that, Kage stopped moving as well, and the rest of the company thought him dead until he let out a choked wheeze.

"You'll… pay… for this…" Kage wheezed out.

Angelus turned from the black-scaled wyvern and faced the group of young dragons. "You," he said, pointing at Toxia. Toxia stared back with wide eyes as apes all around them converged and grabbed at her, only to meet their swift end by Cyclone's tail-blade or claws, until Angelus once again said, "Meióste." Cyclone dropped the the ground in a heap, as did everyone else, their muscles suddenly feeling like lead. Still, Toxia tried her best to fight, thrash against, and bite at her captors as they pulled her from the group.

"You," he said, pointing at Voltia. "You, you," he said, pointing at Flame and Incindia, who tried their best to wriggle out of their captor's arms. "You," he said, pointing at Spyro. That was like a brick to the head for the small company, as the purple dragon was their best hope against the Dark Master. But that was nothing for Lumiere compared to the next selected prisoner. "And you," he said, pointing his black talon directly at Jinx.

Jinx's eyes went wide with fear as the apes grabbed her by the arms and Lumiere let out a strangled, "No!" She was barely able to look back at him, but once she did, Lumiere was filled with rage as he saw the helplessness and vulnerability in those scarlet eyes. "Nos dimittere!" Lumiere spoke. And with that, their movements were restored to them. He didn't know how and he didn't know why, but he knew exactly what to say and how to say it to best combat these apes and Angelus. "Repello!" he directed at a group of charging apes, who then went flying back into the wall with several _cracks!_ reverberating throughout the room upon their collision.

"Siopí," Angelus directed at him. Then, mentally, he said, ' _You have the most drive of anyone I've met, I'll give you that, kid.'_

' _FUCK YOU!'_ Lumiere shot back in his mind.

' _Lumi!'_ Jinx called. Lumiere turned his head to see the apes carrying everyone back into the Catacombs, along with the crystal.

"Mmph mmph! Ngh! Mmm!" he mumbled. But, in his mind, he said, ' _Dimitte me!'_ After that, he found that his voice was restored when he let out a loud war-cry and charged through all the apes between him and Jinx.

"Pétra, desméfste se énan toícho ekeí," Angelus said, focusing on a spot in front of Lumiere. A small wall formed in front of him and tripped him, making him go skidding. "Meióste." Once again, Lumiere found that his limbs had been restrained by an unseen force, and he was pinned to the ground. "Sfragíste tin eísodo." The door to the room closed after that, and everyone waited to see what Angelus would do next. He looked to Lumiere with sorrow in his eyes and said, "I see you care a lot about her… about them all. I will allow you one minute more with them before we must take them away."

"Why?!" Lumiere screamed.

"I'm sorry, kid, but this is the way it's gotta be," Angelus said. He turned to the apes and said, "Grab the crystal and let's go. They've earned their minute."

The apes released the six dragons and let his hold on them go, allowing them to run back to their friends. More apes grabbed the crystal and put it on a wooden cart, allowing them to roll it instead of tiring their muscles with the weight of the crystal.

"One minute," Angelus promised.

Jinx all but ran to Lumiere, who was still on the ground and in immense pain, both physically mentally. "Lumi!" she said, embracing him on the ground and crying into his stomach. Lumiere could only find the strength to put on arm around her neck, pulling her closer as he sobbed quietly. All around them, the others were hugging tightly, before once again gathering around Lumiere and hugging each other quietly. Lumiere somehow found the strength to heft his tail in the air and lift his paw up to it. In a split second, he slashed the palm, making him wince.

"What was that for?" Ember asked, confused.

Voltia, however, recognized immediately what he was doing and hefted her own tail to her paw, slashing it like Lumiere. After that, it was Spyro and Cynder who caught on and slashed their palms as well. Vyra and Flame did this too, followed by Toxia, Cyclone, and Jinx. Ember and Incindia were still confused as hell, but Ember did as the others did.

"What is this for?" Incindia asked.

Lumiere only looked at her, but with that look, Incindia felt compelled to follow suit, and lifted her tiny tail blade to her paw and slashed, making her yelp a bit. Lumiere grabbed Jinx's hand and rubbed his blood into her soft pads. Jinx did this to Spyro, who did this to Cynder, until their hands formed a tight circle of family and comfort.

"Maiorum, nexum et sanguine nobis animam meam…" Lumiere said quietly.

All of their wounds started tingling with a warm sensation, and if one looked closely enough, their hands could be seen glowing. After the short ritual was over, Ember asked, "What was that?"

Lumiere looked at her and said, "Now, we're all bonded by blood. We're now all of blood, brothers and sisters."

A look of realization crossed Ember's face, and they all let each other go and looked at their wounds, only to see long, thin scars with the words "sanguinis ab vtero" able to be faintly seen on the outline.

"What's this mean?" Voltia asked, gesturing to the barely-visible words.

"Bonded by blood," Lumiere replied.

They all smiled with tears in their eyes, hugging and nuzzling each other, before Jinx asked, "How did you know all those spells?"

Lumiere lost his smile and was about to answer, but was cut off by Angelus saying in a low, solemn voice, "Time's up."

They all looked at each other with dread, fear, and sadness in their eyes, which were accompanied by the obvious tears. However, instead of being torn away, Angelus only waited patiently for them by the entrance to the room, where a few apes were standing there with iron shackles. At the sight of them, Flame gulped audibly, but they hesitantly moved towards Angelus. When they reached him, he only gave a reassuring smile.

"Hey, don't think about it like prison," he said. He looked to Lumiere and added, "Think of it as a temporary vacation." He looked to a random part of the wall and said, "Et exitus revelare." A little doorway opened, which led into a hall lit by dim torchlight. "Go on, and remember Lumiere; she'll always be with you."

Lumiere growled at Angelus, which only earned a sigh as the white dragon turned away and led the others back down the hallway with their friends' new bonds' jingling being heard throughout the halls.

"C'mon, we have to get back and tell the others; hopefully we can launch an attack on their camp or whatever," Vyra said comfortingly.

"Jinx…" Lumiere whispered, anguished by the loss of his girlfriend.

' _Lumi!'_ he heard in his mind, making him perk up.

' _J-Jinx…?'_ he asked shakily.

' _Yeah, it's me!'_ Jinx replied. ' _Look, don't worry about us; just go and get help, or at the very least live your lives the best you can.'_

' _No!'_ Lumiere snapped. ' _We are_ not _leaving you down here!'_

He heard Jinx sigh. ' _Alright… do what you need to do… my shining light.'_

Lumiere paused for a moment before saying, ' _I will… my crimson gem.'_

And with that, Jinx cut off the mental connection, leaving his mind silent once again. Vyra came up and nudged him, causing a jolt of pain to travel up his back. He yelped in pain, making Vyra jump.

"Lumi! What, what is it?" she asked frantically.

Lumiere tried to move to get up, but found that every little move he made cause him a great amount of pain, and he found himself suppressing tears.

"I… I think it's my back… I think it's broken…" he groaned.

"Fuck…" Vyra cursed under her breath. "Alright… alright, this is gonna hurt, but I promise that it'll be worth it in the long run."

Vyra grabbed his paw and fought the urge to pull back when Lumiere let out a cry of pain, before grabbing his other paw and lifting his heavy body off the ground, with Lumiere screaming in agony all the while.

"Cyclone, can you carry him?" Vyra asked.

Cyclone, who had been barely holding it together, only nodded and walked over so that Vyra could place Lumiere on his back. Just then, they heard a groan emit from the near-center of the room. They ran over and saw Kage sitting where he was left by Angelus, though he looked to be in a lot more emotional pain the physical pain.

"Are you alright?" Cynder asked him, obviously barely keeping it together herself, as were they all.

But Kage didn't even bother to keep his emotions in check. "He's gone… he's really gone…" he whispered before starting to sob quietly. Everyone who was able to gathered around him and hugged him comfortingly in what capacity they could, seeing as how Kage was a lot bigger than all of them. "He's gone… he's gone…" Kage repeated over and over in between his anguished sobs. He sniffed once and let out a particularly loud sob before saying, "It's my fault…."

"No, Kage, it's not your fault," Vyra said.

"Together, we could've defeated that bastard… but I just stood by… and did nothing…."

"Hey, look on the bright side," Ember said, "now he's with your mother and his Ancestors. He's at peace."

"Not with the knowledge that I failed him…" Kage whispered.

"You didn't fail him!" Cynder yelled suddenly, making them all jump. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! The things I've seen?! The things I've _done_?! You don't know how hard it was for me to sleep at night! But when I was finally rescued by Spyro, I felt like I had a chance, only for that chance to be shattered when the Well of Souls came crashing down! I felt like a failure _then_! And even now, when the one I love most was _taken_ from me, and I couldn't do anything about it, I felt like a failure! But y'know what? We didn't have any control; it was Angelus controlling us! _He's_ to blame!" Cynder then adopted a more gentle tone and said, "So why don't you avenge your father instead of wallowing in your own self-pity, and kill that no-good bastard?"

 _M_

 **Shit just got real. If you're confused, I don't blame you. Hope you enjoyed the Phase III opener, and have a good day/night!**


	22. Not Prisoners

**Guess who's not dead? Fortunately, things have slowed down to where I can start posting again, but not as regularly as I would like to. Hope you understand. And a huge thanks to SKdaGamer for helping me clean up what I had; it's been a real honor working with him, and in my opinion, much of what I have wouldn't be as well-written without his help. Also, since I made you wait for so long, I'm also posting a new oneshot of the Inheritance Cycle, so go check that out too if you have time. As always, hope you enjoy.**

 _M_

"Something's happening!" someone yelled from the bar.

At the moment, all four Guardians, Iciclis, Duke, and Winter were all outside, conversing quietly so that they didn't disturb the sleeping residents close to the bar, since it was nighttime. They were outside because they said that they couldn't let Winter go into the bar, so being the respectful Guardians they were, they took their business outside the bar. Until, of course, they heard the cry. In response, they all looked at each other with wide eyes and ran back into the bar; even Winter scurried along with them, despite only ever seeing the ten dragons in the academy halls and never even interacting with them.

"What?! What's happening?!" Pyra yelled.

Duke's replacement, a cheetah with dark-blue fur, only pointed to the floor in the center of the bar, where the Symbol of Chryosis could be seen glowing white.

"What the…?" Iciclis started, but was cut off when the ground exploded, sending wood, dirt, and stone flying around the room, forcing everyone there to take cover and protect their eyes and heads with whatever they could.

"Hello?"

Everyone perked up at the rather young-sounding voice ringing throughout the bar, coming from the newly-formed hole in the ground… and it was a voice they all recognized.

"LUMIERE!" Pyra cried, rushing to the rim.

"Mom!" Lumiere cried.

"Help us, we're down here!" they heard Vyra shout.

"VYRA!" Pyra yelled back.

Pyra didn't even hesitate to look over the edge, but what she saw filled her eyes with tears; to start off, half of their original company was missing, and to make it worse, they all looked battle-worn, especially Lumiere, who was slung over Cyclone's back, the latter looking like he was about to break down any minute. But only when everyone else gathered around did they pay attention to the black-scaled wyvern who was standing shakily behind them all. He shrunk under their piercing gazes and took a tentative step back.

"Ancestors…" Cyril gasped.

Volteer just stared with wide eyes at their new companion, filled with a new sense of wonder before he realized that there was someone important to him amongst the absent from the group; "Where's Voltiari?" he asked, looking to Vyra for an answer. But at this question, Vyra flinched and cast her gaze downwards.

"Where are the others?" Terrador asked. "Where is Spyro?"

Everyone cast their eyes down at the purple male's name and couldn't meet any of their eyes, knowing that they failed their friends.

At their lack of an answer, Terrador exchanged a glance with his fellow Guardians, before gently saying, "Let's get you out of there…."

 _M_

All of them had been taken to the city's infirmary to make sure that they were alright, and to patch up whatever injuries they had. As expected, Pyra flipped out over Lumiere's broken back, asking who did it and screaming for his attacker's blood, and when they found out that he may never walk right again, even with the countless red crystals given to him, she became even more livid towards Lumiere's assailant. But none of the kids would speak; they hadn't spoken in the three hours since they had gotten out of the Catacombs, not even when they shared with Lumiere the disheartening news. Cyclone and Ember both broke down into tears upon arriving at the infirmary, wailing the names of their respective mates, crying themselves to sleep in the cots. The other three dragons remained completely stoic, never saying anything or even moving besides blinking and when Lumiere nodded at his news, though Cynder eventually ate a light meal, before it came back up in a sick shade of green. Kage, however, eventually did share their tale with everyone curious, albeit reluctantly, and after that, he didn't speak to anyone again, even asking to be left alone, lashing out at whoever was stupid enough to approach him besides the nurses, all of which admired and even stroked his muscles.

But Lumiere had a different reason to be quiet than everyone else, and that was because he had been conversing lightheartedly with Jinx.

' _You doing okay?'_ he asked her for the millionth time, still sitting in his bed.

Jinx chuckled in his mind and said, ' _Yeah, I'm good.'_

' _He didn't hurt you, did he?'_

' _No, he didn't,'_ Jinx replied.

Lumiere smiled lightly at the fact that his Jinx wasn't done for yet, and that alone filled him with determination. But that same determination quickly drained away when he gazed up at the two moons in the sky, wishing that he could share this moment with Jinx.

' _I miss you…'_ he said quietly.

Jinx waited a minute before saying, ' _I miss you too.'_ They sat in silence for a couple seconds before Lumiere received a mental smile from Jinx, who asked, ' _What about me do you miss?'_

Lumiere looked back at the moons and the stars, thinking about all the qualities he missed about his feisty, crimson-colored dragoness. ' _I miss your feisty attitude with everyone who gets in your way,'_ Lumiere said with a smile. ' _I miss the way your scales always catch the light perfectly, no matter what… I miss the warmth of your body against mine, making me feel warm at night… I miss your bright smile that tells me "you will never be alone…"'_ He couldn't see her, yet he knew that Jinx was tearing up at his words, and just thinking about her other qualities that made her the perfect girlfriend made Lumiere's eyes fill with tears as well. '… _I miss_ you _, my crimson gem….'_ He waited a few seconds before asking in a shaky voice, ' _What about_ me _do you miss?'_

Jinx gave a dreamy sigh and said, ' _Where to start….'_

But just as she was about to start, Lumiere's attention was diverted by a voice from behind him saying, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lumiere turned to see Vyra standing in the doorway of his room in the infirmary with a light smile.

"I've heard that one before," Lumiere replied humorously to lift their moods.

Vyra chuckled and walked into the room, coming to lay down next to him on the cot, even if she was squished against his side; to them, any kind of comfort was welcome.

' _Who's that?'_ Jinx asked.

' _Vyra,'_ Lumiere replied.

"What're you doing?" Vyra asked. At Lumiere's look, she continued with, "I mean, you're just sitting here, gazing at the stars… are you thinking about Jinx?"

Not caring if he sounded crazy, he said, "Actually, I'm talking to her."

Vyra looked baffled for a second before a look of realization crossed her face. "Oh, you're speaking to her in your mind?" Lumiere nodded, and she added, "I forgot she could do that…." She sat still for a few seconds before asking, "Could she tell me how Voltia is?"

' _Jinx?'_ Lumiere asked in his mind.

' _I heard her,'_ Jinx replied, going quiet for a second before saying, ' _She says she's alright.'_

"She said she's doing fine," Lumiere said to Vyra.

Vyra looked almost sheepish for a moment before asking, "Is there any way she could… I dunno… project my mind so I could speak to her myself?"

Lumiere prodded Jinx's mind, getting only a grunt in response. ' _Working on it; it's different with other people's minds,'_ she said.

' _Alright, take your time,'_ Lumiere replied. He then turned to Vyra and said, "She's working on it."

"Alright, tell her to take her time; Ancestors know they must've been through a lot," Vyra replied.

They sat like that for a few seconds before he heard in his mind, ' _Vyra?'_

Vyra perked up, meaning she heard it to, and the identity of who it was was confirmed by Vyra mentally asking, ' _Voltia?!'_

' _Wait, how am I able to hear you two?'_ Lumiere asked.

' _I'm using you and myself as satellites, so to speak,'_ Jinx replied for them. ' _I'm projecting Vyra's conscious to yours, which feeds into mine, which then feeds into Voltia's. But, as a downfall, we're all able to hear each other.'_

' _Oh…'_ Voltia said.

Lumiere smirked and asked, ' _Why, what were you guys gonna talk about?'_

Vyra whipped around to face him with a blush on her face and said, ' _N-nothing! I was just gonna ask her h-how she was!'_

' _Sure…'_ Jinx said accusingly with a smirk. Lumiere then felt his mind being enveloped and reaching towards Vyra's. As a result, his and Jinx's consciousnesses mingled together, and they couldn't tell who was who as they probed Vyra's mind for the truth. They wished they didn't.

When Jinx and Lumiere pulled back and separated their minds, Jinx said, ' _W-wow, you caught a wild one, Voltia.'_

' _Technically, she caught me, but have it your way,'_ Voltia replied, confusion evident in her tone.

' _Ancestors…'_ Vyra whispered in her mind, trying to shy away from Lumiere on the cot they were sharing, her face completely red. But when she found she could barely move without falling off, much less put distance between her and her brother, her blush deepened, as did Lumiere's, who looked away awkwardly.

' _I had_ no _idea you'd be into_ that…' he whispered to her.

Vyra lowered her head with an embarrassed whimper. ' _Leave me alone… I like what I like, alright?'_

' _Yeah, I know… but_ feet _?'_ Lumiere teased playfully, making Vyra's face go even _more_ red, if such a thing was possible.

But she got a devilish smile as she said to Jinx, ' _Well why don't we search_ his _mind, and see how wild_ he _is?'_

' _Yeah, why don't we?'_ Voltia said

' _You got yourselves a deal,'_ Jinx replied with a devilish smirk of her own.

' _Wait, wha-'_ Lumiere started before he felt something enter his conscious.

Immediately, he started to panic; he was pretty freaky, but he never wanted to admit that to anyone, not even Jinx. His eyes widened, and he tried to push whatever it was out of his mind, and even tried to meld with it to protect his conscious. But in the end, the combined force of Jinx, Vyra, _and_ Voltia won, and they wriggled their way into the deepest and darkest recesses of his brain.

When they pulled back, Jinx said, ' _That actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.'_

' _But really…_ bondage _?'_ Vyra asked, mocking him.

' _And submission?'_ Voltia added. ' _You'd rather be the submissive partner?'_

' _Oh well, that'd make_ my _job easier when the time comes,'_ Jinx teased.

By now, Lumiere's face and snout were entirely crimson red with the massive blush, and his white scales didn't help either. To preserve what dignity he had left, he said, ' _I-it's supposed to be an intimate experience where you put your complete trust in your partner… and I trust Jinx with all my heart.'_

All three were silent for a moment, before Voltia broke it by saying, ' _Wow… I guess I never thought about it like that.'_

' _Yeah, now that I think about it,'_ Vyra added, ' _that's pretty romantic.'_

' _And hot,'_ Voltia said jokingly.

They all shared a chuckle at that, before Jinx said, ' _Someone's coming. I'll talk to you guys later.'_

Then, just like that, she severed the connection, leaving their minds dark again, but at least with the knowledge that the ones they loved were alright for the time being. And with that knowledge, they were able to rest easy.

But not before Vyra whispered, "Seriously… _bondage_?"

 _M_

Jinx and Voltia looked to see Angelus approaching their dingy concrete cell, and both dragons stood up as soon as they saw him, as did the others, snarls plastered on everyone's faces besides Incindia's; she stood there with fear in her eyes.

Angelus approached slowly and grabbed a ring that made a jingling sound on the way into the makeshift prison that only had two cells made of iron bars, which were actually pretty spacious and had more than enough room to fit them all comfortably; even the cots weren't that bad. Sure, they weren't of Warfang quality, but the were still better than the stereotypical prison cot.

"Thought you guys might want out for a couple minutes," Angelus said sadly, holding up the metal ring to show them all a key. "This place has a couple rooms I think you'd all like."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Jinx growled.

"If you don't believe me, why don't you search my mind? I know Fear dragons are capable of that," Angelus replied.

Jinx did just that, reaching out with her mind to search for any signs of ill will, but was surprised when she found none, so much so, that she lost her snarl.

"But then why?" Jinx asked.

Angelus looked to the other cell across from theirs, which was so dark that none of them could see inside it, before turning back to them and saying, "It's what my mate would want me to do."

At this, they all put on inquisitive expressions as Angelus lifted the key and fit it into the keyhole, turning it and unlocking the cell door, which swung out with a hellish _SCREEEEECH!_ They all cringed at the noise, including Angelus, who dropped the keyring at the noise.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Forgot this cell did that."

They all raised an eyebrow at his apology; they didn't expect any kind of apology at all from someone like Angelus, much less one that sounded so sincere. It kind of made them wonder who he really was.

Spyro got up and padded next to Jinx and whispered to her, "Should we really go with him?"

Again, she reached out with her mind to search Angelus' to catch him off guard, but when she found none, she said, "Sure; after all, if he tries to… kill us, you and I alone would be a force to be reckoned with, not to mention Flame and Voltia."

"And Incindia?" Spyro asked.

"Voltia's a fast flyer, and she's got one of the greatest memories I've ever seen; she can remember what she had for breakfast three years ago to the day, so a simple spell wouldn't be any trouble for her to remember. She could grab Incindia, haul ass back to that room, recite the spell to open the exit, and get her to safety."

Spyro was amazed at how much Jinx had planned this out, but he nodded and looked back at Angelus with skeptical eyes. "Alright, lead on," he said to the feather-winged dragon.

Angelus nodded and padded away from the cell as the others made to follow him, though very cautiously, awaiting some kind of attack from either Angelus, apes, or something else. To their surprise, though, the stone halls of the Catacombs were completely empty and devoid of all life. At least in this corner of the Catacombs. They came to a junction and stopped for a second as they saw a crude sign that listed what was in what direction, some of the rooms being 'Pool/Swimming,' 'Dining Hall,' 'Rec Room,' 'Library,' 'Training Arena,' and 'Laboratory.'

"Choose where you want to go; I think you know how to get back to the cell without a problem," Angelus said before padding off in the direction they came.

"Wait," Jinx called, making the white male stop in his tracks. "Why are you _really_ doing this?" she asked again. "Is it like the 'last meal before the execution' type things?"

"No," Angelus replied. "It's just… I think you guys have gone through enough; a little relaxation might do you all some good."

With those final words, Angelus walked back the way they came, and no one called out to him again. They looked back to the sign and wondered what they were going to do, or even if the sign was being honest; the names of the rooms could be coded, and they would really be separate cells so that they couldn't be together for comfort, or they could be nicknames of torture chambers.

But, against her better judgement, Jinx said, "Let's check out the library first to see if this is legit."

They all padded off to the left where the sign indicated the library was, and continued until they came to a set of wooden double doors with the Symbol of Chyrosis engraved in the wood, just like at the Lost Cave. Jinx and Spyro looked to each other and nodded, then, by some unspoken agreement, stood on their hind legs pushed the doors open with the forelegs. They let gravity pull them back to all fours and looked around the room.

"He wasn't lying," Spyro whispered in awe.

They looked around the massive library for a second, taking in the sheer number of books and the near-perfect lighting so that they would be able to read without straining their eyes and ruining their vision, before noticing that the numerous shelves were sectioned by genre. In total, there were three levels with wooden floors, walls, and shelves unlike the Catacombs, all of them filled with books of all shapes, sizes, and colors. They then noticed that there were also chairs and wooden tables for if they wanted to sit down and read, some of the chairs looking quite comfortable and expensive. They looked up at the ceiling and gasped at the marvelous painting that covered the ceiling, along with the glass chandelier, though the painting was of creatures they didn't recognize; they had pale skin and looked like more handsome versions of apes, with their shorter faces and facial hair of different colors, though they looked back down for a brief moment when they realized one of the strange creatures was stark-naked, while the other was dressed in white robes that went with his long, white hair and beard.

"What the…?" Flame started.

No one knew this about the red dragon, but he was an artist. And by artist, I mean _artist_ ; he once spent _hours_ on end making the perfect mural of their whole crew, excluding Lumiere and Incindia, of course… meaning he would have to go back and edit the mural so that they were included and not left out, even though he would be the only one to see it. And being an artist meant that he had an artist's eye, meaning that he appreciated art that took time, and this mural on the ceiling, by his understanding, must've taken hours upon hours to get right, and he appreciated the creativeness of whoever came up with and drew the strange creatures that appeared to be the center of the painting.

"Like it?"

They all jumped from the voice behind them, and turned to see Angelus standing there with a slight smile.

"Who made it?" Flame blurted out.

Angelus looked at the ceiling and said, "A man named Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, or just Michelangelo, once painted that on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1512, if memory serves." At their confused looks, he said, "That's what they are; man. The bastard of God's seed, as some called themselves." He looked back to them and said, "I personally believe the whole God thing is complete bullshit, but I like the moralities… how He's able to guide people in the right direction, give them advice, give them his blessing, whatnot." He walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a huge, brown book with a golden cross on the front.

"What's that?" Spyro asked.

"The Holy Bible," Angelus replied. "The stories in this big ol' book are actually pretty good if you go into them with an open mind like I did. You come away with some pretty good life lessons, if not a good read. It was written by a man named Jesus Christ in the first century, the man who preached the word of the Lord, whom many believed to be his father, since he was the child of a virgin."

"Wait, how is that possible?" Voltia asked.

"And what's a 'virgin?'" Incindia asked.

"Something you'll learn about when you're older," Angelus replied in a surprisingly stern voice. He then walked over to one of the tables and set the Bible down on it, flipping to a random page and reading aloud, "'Even though I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage.'" He looked to the group and said, "Psalm 23:4" He turned to another random page and read again, "'For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.' Jeremiah 29:11." Another random page and he read, "'He is a deliverer and a savior, working signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, and he delivered Daniel from the lions' power. Daniel 6:28.'" After that passage, he closed the book and walked back to put it on the shelf. "See? Pretty good stories for those willing to give them a try." He then turned to Voltia and said, "And to answer your question, they say that her having a child was a miracle of God, which is why he is believed to be His son."

"Why are you telling us this?" Jinx asked.

"Because why not?" Angelus replied. "Not everything has to be done for a reason. If you're still here in four hours, come to the dining hall for dinner. If you're back in your cell, although I doubt it, I'll pick you up there." He then picked a random book from the shelf and said, "For now, I'll leave you be."

With that, the white dragon padded out of the library, walking awkwardly from the book he had tucked under his right forearm. Jinx looked to Spyro, who only shrugged, before they all scattered across the library in search of something to read… except for Incindia. She had always been a bookworm, and hearing Angelus reading those Bible verses made her interested in what knowledge the rest of the book had to offer. She jumped up on the shelf and pulled the book out, dropping it on the floor and gliding back down to it.

Meanwhile, everyone else was wandering aimlessly through the vast shelves of books, far from where Incindia was now reading the Bible, trying to find anything that caught their eyes. Flame eventually settled with an art book from an artist he was rather familiar with and sat in one of the red comfy chairs. Across the library on a different floor, Spyro had grabbed a book on meditation, since he always had trouble with the subject, and sat down in a blue comfy chair. Back on the first floor, though still a reasonable distance away from the entrance, Toxia had found a book on potion brewing, immediately shoving her snout in the book and subconsciously wandering to a green comfy chair as Jinx wandered on the third floor. Being the only one on that level, she found it fit to talk to herself aloud like she usually did when she was alone.

"Brewing? No…. Architecture? Uh-uh…. Magazines? What the hell are those even doing here?" She did this a lot, wandering aimlessly and reading off different titles on the spines of the books she came across, until she came across a book everyone was familiar with. "The Epic of Chryosis." She furrowed her brow and checked the section she was in. "What is this doing in Nonfiction?" she asked herself. She tried to reason that it was just a mistake, but she didn't take Angelus for the type to make mistakes; he must've taken a lot of time to arrange these books the way they were now, and to put a silly children's tale in the Nonfiction section by accident didn't seem like a coincidence to her. ' _He_ did _have the Symbol of Chryosis on his brow…'_ she thought. ' _But that's just a kid's book! There's no way any of it could be real! The element of Light wasn't ever gifted to dragons! And the first recorded hybrid wasn't until the fall of Warfang seven hundred years ago, not two_ thousand _!'_

She pondered over things for a little while longer while grabbing the book and sitting down in a cream-colored comfy chair, thinking of ways to prove to herself that the Epic of Chryosis was nothing more but a work of fiction. A very good work of fiction, yes, but a work of fiction nonetheless. Eventually, though, her thoughts went to Lumiere.

' _I miss him so much…'_ she thought to herself.

She looked at the black book in her paws before looking at the table to the side of the chair. She couldn't at all hear any of her friends flipping the pages, and she knew from the classes she had with them that they all prefered to whip through pages instead of just turning them, and she knew that she was in complete privacy.

' _I miss him…'_

She set the book down on the table and laid down on her back in the comfy chair, spreading her legs apart.

' _No one's gonna know…'_

 _M_

 **Just one more not-smut scene...? No...? Okay... Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	23. What's the Plan?

_M_

Lumiere awoke to the sound of whispering around him. They were voices he recognized, but in his sluggish, sleepy state, he couldn't place them right away. He groaned and rolled to the side, only to find that someone was in his cot with him. He groaned again and opened his eyes to find that the sun had barely risen over the horizon, casting over the city of Warfang an eerie glow, not to mention that the window was open, and the telltale signs of summer coming to a close were showing themselves, most notably the drop in temperature. Lumiere shivered and turned to see that Vyra had fallen asleep in the cot next to him, and she was also shivering, though in her sleep and more violently.

It was a split-second decision; Lumiere lifted his wing and put if over Vyra to shield her from the cold. Almost instantly, she stopped shaking.

"Lumiere?" asked a hushed voice.

Lumiere craned his neck to see Pyra and Volteer standing there with hope in their eyes.

Lumiere fed into that hope and groaned, "What time is it?"

"6:30 in the morning," a new voice replied. Lumiere turned to see a stunningly beautiful Ice dragoness standing there in the doorway with a bit of an annoyed expression on her face. "Also known as my study time."

"And who are you exactly?" Lumiere asked as Vyra groaned and shifted under his wing.

"I'm Winter; I'm Cyril's niece."

Lumiere nodded and yawned expansively, taking a shaky breath in and stretching his muscles. "Where are the others?"

"In different rooms in this wing," another new voice replied. Lumiere looked to the doorway again and saw an older-looking Fear dragoness standing there with a saddened expression; her crimson scales and v-shaped tail-blade reminded him of his girlfriend, making him internally wince. "I'm Tinaral, Jinx's mother."

"I was just thinking… now I know where she gets her looks…" Lumiere said lightheartedly to chase away the depression; he knew Jinx wouldn't want him to be depressed.

Tinaral smiled slightly and walked into the room, kind of pushing Pyra and Volteer away from the bedside. "I understand you're… involved with my daughter."

"No… no, not just involved…" Lumiere said as Vyra shifted under him again. "She's my world, and I'll do anything for her… even go back down in that maze and die for her if I have to."

"Good, because you'll probably be doing just that," said yet another new, deeper voice that put Terrador's masculinity to shame.

Lumiere turned back to the doorway with a calm expression, but at the hulking Shadow dragon standing in the doorway with crimson armor on, his eyes widened. Lumiere could tell that this dragon's scales were black under the armor, as were his back spines and tail-blade, which was shaped like a cross. His horns curved around his head so that they were shaped like a ram's, and his piercing red eyes held a look that said 'Don't make me hurt you.'

"I am Bane, Captain of the Warfang Regime," the dragon said, "and Jinx's father."

' _Oh shit…'_ Lumiere said in his mind, accompanied with an audible gulp.

"Pl-pl-pleased to m-meet you, s-s-sir," Lumiere squeaked out.

Bane kept a straight face for a few seconds, staring straight at him, and Lumiere felt as if the Shadow dragon was gazing through him, his character, and his thoughts. He jumped when Bane burst out laughing, however, doubling over with tears in his eyes after a few seconds. Lumiere didn't know why, but he found himself joining in, laughing hysterically for whatever reason.

Once they both recomposed themselves, Bane said, "The pleasure is mine, young dragon." He then asked with a bit of concern, "Are you alright to stand? We're going back down in the Catacombs to go after this Angelus with everything we've got, and I assume you would want to be there so you can watch him suffer for taking your mate away."

"Uh… too soon, sir," Lumiere replied.

"Pardon?" Bane asked, cocking his head one way, as did everyone else besides Vyra.

"We're… uh… not mates yet," Lumiere explained. "We were gonna wait until this whole thing blew over,"

"Oh, the gentleman type," Tinaral remarked. She then turned to Pyra and said quietly, "You raised him well."

"Thank you," Pyra replied with a smile, "but I didn't raise him."

Given Tinaral's quizzical look, they could tell she was full of questions, but before she could get any of them out, Bane spoke up with, "Well, in any case, we would still rather you come with us, if you're fit to walk."

Lumiere nodded in understanding; he did kind of hate Angelus for taking away Jinx, Spyro, Toxia, Flame, and Incindia. Not that he wanted the strange dragon dead; what he saw in those eyes, now looking back, was barely-restrained depression, threatening to emerge at any minute and break him. But he sure didn't like him. He took away his Jinx, his beautiful Jinx, from him.

"I can try," Lumiere said, raising his upper half off the cot.

"Mrgh… Lumi?" Vyra asked, now waking up. "What's going on?"

Lumiere didn't answer her and dragged his upper half out of the cot and tried to jump down, but he fell down and collapsed on the ground. He tried to stand back up, but his back legs were shaking so much, he fell back down with a growl. Bane and Volteer immediately ran forward to help Lumiere, but he held up one paw, signalling for them to stay back. Everyone watched with hopeful eyes, even Winter, as Lumiere tried once again to get up, but that hope shattered when Lumiere once again collapsed. Vyra got off the cot to help her brother up, and Bane and Volteer finally moved forward to help him off the ground.

Lumiere's eyes filled with tears as he felt his hind legs trembling violently, now not used to the weight that was his own, and he lowered his head in shame as he felt himself being slung across Bane's back.

"It's alright, young one; I'm surprised you got as far as you did with as bad of an injury as you have," Bane encouraged. "If you keep that kind of mindset, you should be up in no ti-"

"Put me down…" Lumiere demanded quietly.

Confused and surprised, Bane craned his neck around and asked, "What?"

"Put me down," Lumiere repeated, only louder. "I want to try again." Then, in his mind, he said, ' _For you, Jinx.'_

Bane was baffled, but complied and set Lumiere back down on the ground, but on his side so that Lumiere didn't have any kind of a head start. With that, Lumiere growled and got his upper body up off the ground, but his lower half was still shaking, despite him being on the ground, and he got no farther than that. He took deep breaths and prepared himself for what had to be done and, slowly but surely, lifted his hindquarters off the ground and stood defiantly straight.

Everyone looked at him with surprise and happiness, but Bane was mostly overcome with shock. "How?" he asked. "Usually an injury like that would hinder anyone for months or even years at a time!"

"I… thought of Jinx…" he admitted, looking to the ground.

"She gives you strength, then?" Lumiere nodded, and Bane said, "Good; you've found something to give you courage and determination." Lumiere nodded again and smiled as he thought of Jinx. "If you are indeed fit to walk, you will come with me so we can plan our attack."

"Yes sir," Lumiere said, shifting his weight so that he was more comfortable standing.

"And by the way, Lumiere," Bane said, making Lumiere look to him again, "your friends are waiting for you in the war room."

Lumiere nodded and said, "Thank you, sir."

"Thank _you_ , Lumiere," Bane replied, "for being there for Jinx when we could not."

Lumiere smiled and said, "My pleasure, sir."

Bane nodded and walked out of the room, Tinaral right behind him, leaving him, Vyra, Volteer, Pyra, and Winter to their devices for the time being.

"You good?" Vyra asked, walking up behind him.

Lumiere craned his head to look at his lower half and said, "I'll be fine."

He took a step forward to test himself, and was relieved when he didn't fall forward like last time. He focused on Jinx in his mind and took another step, then another, then another, until he was out the door and walking through the infirmary's halls, though it was slower with normal and Vyra was helping him along a bit, followed closely by Pyra, Volteer, and Winter.

He looked back at her and asked, "Why're you here, anyways? Didn't you say this was your study time?"

"I'm here because I want to spend time with my uncle, whom I haven't seen in over a decade," Winter replied.

' _Did she seriously just say "whom?"'_ Lumiere asked himself. "And who might your uncle be?"

"Cyril, Guardian of Ice," Winter replied instantly and pridefully.

Lumiere nodded and walked on until they reached a room where hushed whispers were being exchanged by the occupants of said room.

"But he's barely woken up, and you want to send him back down there?" asked a low voice.

"Precisely; I want him to be there when we strike down that bastard," Bane responded.

"Do you think it is wise to send him with such an injury?" another, deeper voice asked. "I've seen injuries like that cripple dragons stronger than him by tenfold for life."

"He's got the right motivation," Bane said. "I saw him walk myself."

"Impossible," another voice said.

Lumiere looked to Vyra, who walked ahead and opened the door, making whoever was in there look to them and drop what they were talking about. Vyra returned to Lumiere's side and helped the male walk slowly into the room.

"Lumiere!" cried a bunch of happy voices.

Lumiere looked to see that Cyril, Terrador, Ember, Cyclone, and Kage were already there, with the addition of Bane and Iciclis for some reason.

"Iciclis?" Lumiere asked in disbelief.

"Yes, it is me," the Ice dragon confirmed.

They exchanged a couple lighthearted greeting for a few minutes, everyone glad that he was walking after what happened to his back, even though he was still shaking. However, after a few minutes, he realized that his trembling decreased in intensity and that he was standing a bit more stable than before.

After a couple minutes, though, Bane brought their attention to him by saying, "So how are we going to go about this?" He turned to Lumiere and Vyra and said, "From what I hear, you two are some of the top students in Battle Strategy at your school, and you two are the only ones with enough experience down there to know what's going on."

Lumiere looked to Vyra just as she looked to him, and the two exchanged a nervous glance; they were depending on them, and if they screwed it up, they risked the chance of never seeing their friends or mates again, and that was _not_ something they wanted to happen, especially if they didn't see their loved ones again.

"Well? Do you have a plan?" Bane asked.

Vyra only nodded, and she let Lumiere take the wheel, and by doing so, acknowledged that he was the better between them in planning. They, along with everyone else, took a seat at the round table, Lumiere being on the right side next to Vyra and Bane, who was at the head of the table with a map in front of him. When he motioned for Lumiere to speak, the white dragon took that as his cue to do so.

"I don't have a plan yet," Lumiere said, "but I _do_ know we can't just charge in there gung ho; we were only down there for three or four days, so we don't know what _else_ is down there."

"I agree," Vyra said. "We have to go about this very cautiously, and we can't make our presence known; we can only take a group of five at the max so we don't draw any unwanted attention."

"What's even worse is that there may be traps in place that are set off by motion, especially spells," Lumiere added. "Those, I can remove without an issue, but I don't want to take chances with using up more mana than I have to; if I do, I might tire quicker, and with me being the lead 'mage,' if you will, that would serve as a huge disadvantage down there, especially since we've found multiple rooms covered in spells and whatnot."

"Spells?" Bane asked. "What kind of spells?"

"It depends on whether you're talking about ancient draconic, Latin, or whatever Angelus was speaking," Lumiere replied.

"Latin?"

"The language wyverns spoke when they were still alive," Lumiere replied.

"Can you speak it fluently?" Volteer asked, some of his old excitement creeping back into his voice.

"Unfortunately, I can't," Lumiere replied, "but I know my way around a few spells that, while simple, will be crucial to defeating Angelus and whatever apes may be down there. Some spells even randomly plant themselves in my mind, so if that happens again, then I'll have even more spells at my disposal."

"What kind of spells do you know?" Bane asked.

"I know spells to release us from another's hold, to launch enemies back, and to bond myself and others in blood; I know fragments of other spells, but only fragments, and spells are only helpful if you know the whole thing."

"When did you become so experienced in magic?" Pyra asked curiously. The others mirrored her curiosity and awaited Lumiere's answer.

Lumiere looked back at their gazes and said, "While I was down there, I found that some words just came to me, and when they did, a fragment of magical knowledge did as well."

"That sounds like Knowledge Chain," Winter spoke, making everyone turn to her. "It was something I heard about a few years ago, where when someone discovers a piece of knowledge, another piece will automatically attach itself to their conscience. But it was something that used to happen more than a millennium ago; there are records of it, but no living case has ever been recorded since the wyverns were still around, and even back then it was a rarity."

"That it was," Kage agreed. "My father was one of the only ones to have it in our city, him and two others; my mother and his closest friend."

"And where are they all now?" Bane asked him.

Kage sighed and cast his eyes downward, before shaking his head and saying, "They've all passed on and are with their Ancestors."

Bane dipped his head and said, "I'm sorry to hear that." Kage said nothing to that as Bane continued. "But I think we should focus more on the topic at hand; getting through the maze and to Angelus."

Once again, they looked to Lumiere, who said, "I share a mental link with Jinx; later, when I talk to her again, maybe I would be able to pinpoint her location or look through her memories to see which path they took, and what spells were placed down on and around that path." He looked to his friends and said in a low voice, "Then, of course, there's the problem of dealing with the Mimics."

"Mimics?" Bane asked.

"Beings of pure Shadow that are able to mimic others to lure their prey," Lumiere elaborated, "which we were unfortunate enough to be; they've tried to kill us on four separate occasions, and one almost succeeded in turning me into one of them." At this, everyone but his friends let out a gasp. "I was able to kill two of them when we found them, though, and even if I don't know how, I am able to kill them nonetheless."

"How many of these 'Mimics' are down there?" Bane asked.

"Seven," Lumiere replied instantly.

"Do you know what they are exactly? Their past, their weaknesses, anything?" Bane asked.

"I don't, but it looks like Winter wants to throw in her two cents," Lumiere replied.

As soon as Lumiere finished, Winter said, "The correct term is obumbratio; why they're called that is lost to time, but it is said that they're souls that the first Dark Master, Mortus, stole and trapped within the Dark Catacombs using intricate, irreversible spells of darkness."

"Do they have any weaknesses?" Lumiere asked her.

"Not since the wyverns went extinct besides Kage over here; they were vulnerable only to the Light element, but since they're all gone, and since dragons can't harness the Light element, they have no weaknesses…" Winter finished sadly.

"What if a dragon _were_ to harness the Light?" Cynder piped up suddenly. "Like in the Epic of Chryosis?"

"That's impossible, so who are we to assume what would happen if a dragon were to harness the Light. And the Epic of Chryosis? Please. Don't make me laugh; that's nothing more than a fairy tale for little kids."

"All stories are based on fact," Cynder retorted. "Who knows? Maybe Chryosis, or someone like him, _did_ exist all those millenia ago, and was able to harness the Light?"

"If that were so," Iciclis said sadly, "then the world would look quite different; to harness a power as great as the Light would require a massive amount of mana. Dragons were, and still are, incapable of storing that kind of mana, and if one were to try to take control of the Light, they would literally burn up; the physical strain is too great for a dragon, but since wyverns were stronger than us, they were the only ones capable of harnessing the Light."

"Actually," Volteer said, "I read a book on a group of dragons about as ancient as the world itself. And they're not fantasy; there are actual, written records of what were called Celestial dragons dating back hundreds of millenia ago. In fact, the earliest I found was dated to what would be 1274 of the third age, which would be around 39,836 years ago; over twenty ages ago."

"Celestial dragons?" Kage asked in disbelief. "I've not heard mention of them since my father and I were forced underground. They were the most powerful dragons of all, able to control all Universal, Dark, and Forbidden elements alike, including Light."

" _Were_ the most powerful," Winter interrupted. "Now, they're all dead. And by the way, they weren't really dragons; they were the link between dragons and wyverns, _the_ Ancestors."

"Actually," Kage said, "I believe we have one in our presence right now."

Everyone looked to where he was, and everyone's eyes landed on none other than Lumiere. He arched an eyebrow and and asked, "What?"

"Celestial dragons were only known to be white in color, which is why their employee, the Chronicler, is turned white in color when he or she is selected to become the next one. However, you are not the Chronicler, so I have a reason to believe that you are, or at least descended from, a Celestial dragon."

"It would explain how you stood so easily after such a major injury," Volteer piped up. "Celestial dragons have been known to heal their bodies within seconds of an extensive injury, given time and training, but it should still instinctively kick in."

"But the last known Celestial dragon was Milenius, and almost no one knows what happened to him, and those that did… are now with the Ancestors," Terrador said. The others dipped their heads in remembrance, as there was only one who knew of Milenius's whereabouts.

"Who?" Lumiere asked.

"Ignitus was the last to know what exactly happened to Milenius," Terrador said.

"And, unfortunately, we aren't able to bring back the dead," Cyril added sadly.

"Ignitus…" Lumiere whispered to himself; the name rung a bell, and in a few seconds, the note rang loud and clear in his mind. "The Chronicler?"

"The Chronicler?" Cynder asked. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"When I was asleep once down there, a white-and-blue dragon calling himself the Chronicler spoke to me warning me about what was to come, though he said that those who used to know him called him Ignitus."

" _Ignitus_ was selected as the new Chronicler?!" Pyra yelled happily.

"You didn't know?" Lumiere asked, looking to Cynder, as she was the one to tell him that only four years ago, a new Chronicler was chosen.

"I knew that a new Chronicler was chosen, but I didn't know it was Ignitus!" she gasped in a shocked happiness; she couldn't wait to tell Spyro the good news. She was daydreaming about his reaction when Bane's voice cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

"What danger did he warn you about?"

Lumiere sighed and said, "He said that there are many futures, all with different dangers and possible outcomes, but he never listed any of them."

"Thank the Ancestors…" Winter mumbled.

Lumiere furrowed his brow and asked, "What?"

Winter met his gaze and said, "If he told you the future, there was a possibility of ripping apart the time-space continuum, and that's not something I'd be willing to see."

Lumiere hummed in thought and nodded, turning back forward just as Terrador asked, "What else did he tell you?"

"He told me that everyone in existence has a book to go along with their name and documents their life, but that my book was completely blank before I woke up; 'nothing but parchment,' I think is what he said."

"Alright, back to the problem at hand; the Mimics, as you call them," Bane cut in.

Lumiere nodded and said, "We'll all have to be on our guard; I remember when one almost turned me to one of them; it didn't look like there was anything in that hallway because they're easily able to blend in the dark. The only way we'd see them is by their glowing red eyes. And those are _not_ something I want to run into again."

 _M_

 **Hope you enjoyed, and have a good day/night!**


	24. Angelus Or Kirk?

_M_

"Hello?" a voice rang out in the library.

Jinx snapped open her eyes and jolted awake with a slight gasp, before leaning upright in the chair she was in. She sniffed the air and found that, unfortunately, it smelt heavily of her natural female pheromones. She leaned even more upright and looked in between her legs and down on the cushion and saw that her "fun time" had left a reasonably dark stain on the fabric, and was actually still dripping down from her sacred area.

"Oh no…" she sighed, her shoulders slumping as her eyes grew in panic. "No no no no no no nonononono!" She growled at herself for letting her feelings get the better of her yet again, though this time she was sure to be caught; it wasn't the first time she had "thought about" Lumiere, and she had several close calls with her parents, her friends, and, when she was too desperate to help herself, the white dragon himself.

"Jinx?" a voice called from the first floor. "Jinx, are you gonna come eat with us?"

Jinx recognized the voice as Spyro's and yelled back, "Yeah, I'll be right down!" She looked to the dark spot and grimaced before a sudden thought entered her mind. _'How would Angelus know it was me?'_ She let relief play across her features as she made her way to the balcony that overlooked the opposite end of the first and second floor before leaping over and gliding to the floor.

"You might not want to be doing that too often," a voice said as Jinx touched down behind her friends. Jinx looked to see Angelus with a slight smile across his features. "Those railings are more fragile than they seem." Jinx only nodded to show that she'd heard the white dragon as he said, "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Spyro said, being unusually well-mannered towards Angelus.

Angelus only nodded back and lead the group out of the library and back into the drab, gray halls of the Dark Catacombs, before they came to another door like the library's, except this time, it had a tree engraved in the wood like on the doors of the room that got them in this situation. When Angelus lifted one paw and uttered, "Ánoixe," the whole group tensed up, thinking that this was some kind of trap, but they relaxed when the wooden doors merely swung inwards. The dining hall wasn't anything special, only that it was very much like the library; very grand with three chandeliers in a row and wooden walls and carpeted floors, though this time, there was a brick fireplace to the left of the long, dark oak table, along with paintings and murals on the walls, a lot of them depicting strange scenes like the one where Angelus said man had discovered God, though one of them depicted a scene everyone had only imagined before.

When Chryosis was gifted the Light by the Chronicler.

On the table were seven white cloth placemats that Spyro thought were very similar to the ones from the Vineyard, along with coasters, napkins, and silverware on either side of the plate.

"You guys can just sit anywhere," Angelus said, walking over to the other head of the table and sitting there.

For whatever reason, the others followed him, half of them following him and the other half going the other way, so that when he sat at the table, half of their group sat on either side of him. Jinx, Spyro, and Voltia followed him to the right, while Flame, Toxia, and Incindia went the other way, until they were all seated in that order.

"Meióste ta fóta," Angelus said.

With that, the light in the room dimmed and set a fancier mood, while food started to appear, along with the scents. How he kept them hidden, they didn't know, but what they _did_ know was that it smelled amazing.

"Wait, I thought that first word did… something else," Voltia pointed out.

"Meióste?" Angelus asked, before chuckling. "Magic's complicated like that." They were about to wait for him to explain, but instead he disregarded their questioning looks and said, "Go ahead; grab whatever you guys want." They knew what he meant, but as much as they wanted to wait, they couldn't resist the enticing smell of the dinner, which smelt even more enticing given the fact that they hadn't had anything proper to eat that whole day and night, much less a feast like this.

They all muttered their thanks and proceeded to do what Angelus said; they grabbed whatever they wanted and just put it on their plates, ranging from cooked meat to mashed potatoes and gravy to biscuits. They just kept grabbing stuff until their white plates were filled past the brim and, in Flame and Spyro's case, falling off. When that happened, the two dragons looked up with sheepish smiles, but Angelus only smiled.

"Hungry?" he asked them. The two only nodded with embarrassed smiles on their faces, making everyone chuckle. "That's understandable; you guys have pretty much been through Hell and back in this damned place."

"You don't like it here?" Toxia asked curiously.

"Oh hell no," Angelus said, shaking his head as he picked up a chicken leg and took a bite. With his mouth full, he continued, "Couldn't hate this place more if I was imprisoned here myself."

"Why're you still here, then?" Voltia wondered.

"Simple; strategic advantage," Angelus answered, before he snapped his fingers, making two bottles of wine appear between them all. "Help yourselves," he said with a smile as wine glasses appeared in front of them. Everyone immediately reached for the wine, even Incindia. But they were surprised when Angelus said, "No, not you."

"What am I supposed to drink, then?" she whined.

Angelus only snapped his fingers again, and a can of pop appeared in his paws. He flicked the top of the can with a finger twice before popping open with a _hiss!_ and pouring it in Incindia's glass. "You'll have to wait until you're older for this," he said, putting the can down and holding the wine bottle up.

"How long will that be?" Incindia asked, hoping to stump him.

Even though they were surprised, Voltia spoke up and said, "The legal drinking age is eighteen for dragons."

"And how old are you, young lady?" Angelus asked.

"E-eleven…" Incindia said, dipping her head down.

Angelus looked at her for a score before sighing and dipping his head down, snapping his fingers again. The pop in Incindia's glass glowed a bit before turning to wine, much to their surprise. Incindia looked to Angelus, surprised, but he only smiled and said, "Don't tell anyone."

"What are you doing?" Jinx hissed to him.

Angelus leaned over to her and said, "Do you remember the first time you had alcohol?" Jinx nodded as Incindia lifted the glass to her tiny mouth. "What was your first impression?"

Jinx's jaw dropped open at what Angelus was doing. Her first time having alcohol wasn't the best time of her life; it had burned her throat and tasted bitter, and it was almost the exact wine sitting at this table. Essentially, Angelus was doing what any mischievous parent would do in this situation. She knew best, because her own father had done this same thing.

"Bleugh!" Incindia spat, coughing up the wine.

Angelus chuckled and asked, "You want some more?"

Incindia shook her head and set the glass down on the table. Angelus only chuckled again as he snapped his fingers, turning the wine back to the soda she had before.

"Thanks," she strained to say.

"No problem," Angelus said, still chuckling.

After breaking out of their stupor, the others slowly joined in, then it got louder and louder, until they were all full-on cracking up, except for Incindia, who was sitting there with a cute little pout on her face.

The rest of dinner was surprisingly lighthearted, even if it was with their captor; the thing was they didn't feel like Angelus was holding them there with how much they were enjoying his company. The surprising thing was the fact that he seemed like a big kid, just that his mature side showed more around them before now; he was laughing at the stupidest jokes and sang drinking songs with them, even letting Spyro and Flame light the fireplace. After dinner, they all got up and started to make their way to the pool area.

Before they left, though, Angelus held his tail in front of Jinx, since he and she were the last to exit the room. When he did, he leaned down and asked, "Have fun earlier?"

When Jinx caught the sly smile he was giving her, she knew immediately what he was talking about and flushed with embarrassment. Even still, she tried to deny it and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please; that stain on the couch?" Angelus laughed. "I know that was you."

Now Jinx was getting nervous. "I-I was drinking in there a-and accidentally spilled some!" she stuttered, tripping over her words.

"Look, don't worry about it; it's who you were thinking about that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Lumiere?" Jinx let slip, before catching herself and placing her forepaws over her mouth with wide eyes.

Angelus turned smug and said, "So you _were_ having a bit of fun." His eyes then turned genuine and said, "If you want, I wouldn't mind giving you your own place to do whatever you want; there are still a couple dorms down here from a long time ago that I divvied up so you guys could maybe stay in them." The smugness returned, and he said, "And they're all soundproof."

Jinx's paws lowered from her muzzle, and she asked, "Really?"

"You thought you would stay in that stupid cell forever?" Angelus asked. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a madman like the Dark Master."

"Then why do you work for him?" Jinx asked.

Angelus' eyes flashed with sadness, and he turned away saying, "I'd rather not talk about it… yet." Jinx nodded as Angelus lowered his tail to let Jinx through. He smiled and said, "Go ahead; go hang out with them. Bet they're having a blast."

A loud "CANNONBALL!" from Spyro confirmed that statement.

They both chuckled a bit, and Angelus said, "Go on; if you need me, I'll be in the library."

"You aren't coming with us?" Jinx asked, a bit disappointedly.

Angelus lifted his wings and asked, "Haven't you noticed these things? Last time I got them wet, I wasn't able to fly for a few days because of how heavy they were."

"Oh… okay," Jinx replied.

Angelus chuckled again and said, "Go ahead."

Jinx smiled and nodded, passing through the doorway, followed by Angelus until she came to the pool door, which was made only of glass, to her surprise, so she was able to get a full view of the massive pool before stepping in. When she did, her friends smiled and waved her over, floating in the pool, horsing around, or going off the diving pool on the deep end. Jinx looked at the depths and saw that it ranged from four feet to fourteen feet deep, effectively giving them enough room to do anything. Toxia and Incindia stayed on the shallow end, while Flame and Spyro went off the diving board, Voltia opting to do her own thing in the center of the pool. Jinx got a running start and jumped, gliding over to the yellow female and landing in the water beside her, splashing her in the process.

"What the…?!" Voltia yelped before getting a faceful of water.

Jinx surfaced, splashing Voltia even more before swimming away quickly, laughing all the while at how baffled her friend looked. "Why you little…!" Voltia screamed, lunging for Jinx, but since the Fear dragon was out of reach and kicking water up, all she got was more water in the face.

"What's wrong, _master swimmer_?" Jinx taunted.

Voltia growled with a smile and went under, propelling herself with her legs, tail, and even wings to get to Jinx, who only gasped before she was pulled under suddenly. Jinx opened her eyes and saw that Voltia was grinning at her and lunged at her again, but this time Jinx saw it coming at dodged out of the way. After that, she felt the need to breathe and surfaced, followed a split second later by Voltia, both of them panting.

"Screw… you…" Jinx huffed out.

"Right back atcha," Voltia retorted.

They looked at each other, and when they met each others eyes, they burst into a fit of giggles and resumed their roughhousing while everyone watched and laughed.

 _M_

Kirk walked back down the halls of the Dark Catacombs, away from the sounds of the rambunctious kids that were playing in the pool. He only smiled slightly with a longing look in his eyes, chuckling and shaking his head at their antics. The thing was… he lied to them; he wasn't actually going to the library.

He was going back to the cell area.

While he walked, he was reminiscing a life he had lived five lifetimes ago, knowing that he was way older than anyone in his world naturally should've been, and he hadn't even reached the prime of his life yet. He, like many of his other friends before he got dragged off to this world, had been born into a world without mercy, nuclear disease threatening to take their lives away before they were even born, and being forced to live and survive in an anarchist, post-apocalyptic world held no remorse for the weak, which was why he was able to make strong choices and be confident in his judgement.

But that all changed when he found Dika. Dika, his one true love and the light in his life, however dark her scales were. No matter what, even before they became life-mates, she always found a way to lift his spirits, to turn a shitty day into a wonderful day, with only her presence and a warm smile. Kirk became so protective of her, that there was a point where he basically put her under house-arrest to protect her from all the creeps and perverts of his pack. That was probably the lowest point in their relationship, but when they got past that hurdle, their relationship only grew from there. That is… until they found another dragon.

One day while out hunting, they found another dragon wandering alone through the blistering Death Valley, which had been known to get as hot as 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which was hot enough to kill pretty much everything that used to live there. When they found him, however, he was still alive, albeit barely; they could tell he was suffering from starvation, dehydration, and heat stroke, not to mention he was lying on his side hyperventilating, and unconscious. One more hour in that heat, and he would've been a goner, past the point of no return. They took him back to camp and treated him, feeding him and giving him water through tubes they inserted into his throat like how they did in the few remaining hospitals. But when he woke, he attacked them on sight and forced him to make a choice; go with him to another realm or his mate and pack would all die.

Kirk, of course, accepted this offer without hesitation, but just before they left, the dragon broke his promise and razed his village to the ground with his dark fire. However, he kept Dika alive and locked her away in the Dark Catacombs with him for over three hundred years, forcing him to possess an artificial body that resembled that of an ancient serial killer, taking on the dragon's name, Angelus. That is of course until Lumiere and his crew came to him.

As Kirk padded through the halls, his eyes turned sad and downcast, his head low and tail drooping down like a dog who'd just been beat. When he reached the cell room, however, he took a deep breath on and recomposed himself, checking himself over before entering the room. He looked at the others' cell before looking across the room to the pitch-black cell.

"Prisoner 4811," he called. He heard shuffling in the cage, before the sounds of someone getting up and padding to the edge of the cell reached his ears. When the face revealed itself, Kirk found himself smiling at the sole inhabitant of that dingy cell. "AKA Dika."

Dika smiled at this and laid her body across the bars as Kirk walked over and laid his body down like Dika, only he was leaning on the other side of the bars so that his right side was pressed up against Dika's, both of their tails swishing back and forth in contentment at seeing their respective partner.

"Angelus," Dika retorted with a cheeky smile.

Kirk smiled and leaned his head towards her just as she did the same, until their lips came into contact through the bars of the cell. Kirk's tail also found its way through the bars and prodded at Dika's tail, until she wrapped her tail around his. At this, both of them started purring and broke the kiss, nuzzling each other with their eyes closed since the bars were actually pretty far apart.

"How've you been?" Kirk asked to start a conversation.

Dika saw this poor attempt and said, "Not bad for being stuck in the same cell for three centuries."

Kirk sighed and rolled his eyes as he heard Dika chuckling. "If you're not careful with your words, I'll have to come in there and punish you, _prisoner_ ," he teased.

"Good luck with that," she laughed. They shared a chuckle before Dika noticed that Kirk was more downcast than on other days, so she asked, "What's on your mind?"

Kirk met her inquisitive yet slightly worried eyes and said, "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Kirk," Dika pushed, "I can tell when something's on your mind."

"Never could fool you, could I?" Kirk remarked with a sad smile. He sighed before he dropped the facade and said, "Things have gotten a little more complicated."

"By 'a little' I think you mean 'a lot.' What happened?" Dika asked.

Kirk sighed again as tears filled his eyes. He took a shaky breath and said, "I saw them." He met Dika's eyes with his own and said, "I saw our children."

Dika's eyes widened in shock, and she asked in a shaky voice, "Our… children…? They're alive…?"

Kirk only nodded in confirmation, since he didn't trust his voice to work at the moment, his lip trembling and on the verge of tears. Then, it hit. Just like that, Kirk broke down into tears and leaned his head across Dika's neck through the bars, the tears streaming down his face and light sobs racking his body as the female only nuzzled the top of his head with tears falling from her own eyes.

"It's okay… it'll all be okay… it'll all work out in the end…" Dika whispered consolingly into Kirk's ear.

At this, Kirk's sobbing only got heavier, and he whispered anguishedly, "I'm sorry…."

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night.**


	25. Back to the Grind

**Hey, sorry for not uploading for a while; I had some stuff going on in my life.**

 _M_

"Are you sure you want to go back in there?" Pyra asked Lumiere as she fitted chrome armor to his small frame.

"I'm not letting Jinx die down there with that monster," Lumiere replied with conviction.

Pyra smiled and nuzzled him when she fitted the last strap on his silver armor. "I'm so proud of you, Lumiere," she whispered.

Lumiere smiled lightly and nuzzled her back. "Thanks, Mom."

"Lumiere," Bane's voice came from the doorway. Lumiere looked to find Bane standing there with a solemn expression, his crimson armor reflecting the light of midday streaming in from the window in the armory, however he felt less than shiny. "It's time to go."

Lumiere lost his smile and nodded slowly, walking out of the room and down the hallway with Bane's lumbering form. To pass the time and ease his nerves, Lumiere focused on their armor. His own armor wasn't that much different than the one he used back when he was captured by the Announcer, except this set was of a lot better quality, since it was from the Warfang armory itself and was probably made by the best smiths within a thousand miles; it was silver like his old set, but this time it had red highlights outlining his bracers, helmet, and chestplate, which was engraved with the Symbol of Chryosis. Bane's armor was made in much the same fashion, only that it looked older, suggesting the same of the dragon, but it still looked good as new despite probably going through war, what with him being the Head Captain of the Warfang Regime. His armor was, as mentioned, crimson red with black highlights, and instead of the Symbol of Chryosis engraved in his chestplate, he had the Warfang Insignia, which was two dragons twisting around each other and a staff with a jewel going through the center.

"Relax, Lumiere," Bane said suddenly, making Lumiere look to him. Bane met his gaze and said, "You're tense."

"I'll be fine," Lumiere replied. "I have to be if we're gonna get Jinx out of that wretched place."

Bane chuckled at the youngling's resolve and looked back down the hallway, which they had almost reached the end of. When they did, they were met with a dark wooden door that was the only thing separating them and the rest of Warfang. Bane opened it slowly and stepped out, followed by Lumiere, but they were both bombarded with onlookers and reporters, throwing questions this way and that at practically light speed. Bane only shielded Lumiere from them with his left wing and made his way to the bar, pushing through the crowd forcefully using his shoulder.

"They seem… excited," Lumiere remarked.

"You can't blame them," Bane replied. "You and your friends are the first ones to survive a journey through the Dark Catacombs in millenia."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Lumiere asked.

Bane looked to him and asked, "Didn't you learn about them two years ago?"

"Amnesia," Lumiere reminded him.

Bane raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing and only turned away and focused on making his way through the mob with Lumiere. When they got to the bar, they dashed inside and closed the door behind them as soon as Bane's tail was through the door. Lumiere looked around the room at everyone there and saw eyes of nervousness, yet determination that rivaled his own, dare he say.

Cynder was standing there with black armor with purple highlights, which were glowing because of the protection spell Lumiere was able to conjure up, and on her chest was the Emblem of the Purple Dragon, which was a dragon with the four elemental symbols surrounding it. Cyclone was wearing dark gray armor with even darker gray patterns etched into the metal, and the rune of protection was on his chest, a courtesy of the Elders from long ago. Ember had on a set of dark gold armor with red highlights and patterns, and her chestplate was also engraved with the Warfang Insignia.

Vyra's armor, however, was the most impressive of them all. Her armor was made of the strongest metal known to the Dragon Realms, nightsteel, which made her armor a very dark gray, though it was lighter than Cyclone's, and in her armor was etched the Warfang Insignia and the Mark of the Guardians to the right of it, which had four dragons facing upward towards a star, seemingly praying to it. Along with that were beautiful patterns and bracers that all held some kind of spell in ancient draconic, which Kage had put on before he slunk back to his room, the most important ones being protection, strength, stamina, and speed. Right in the center of her chest, however, was the Symbol of Chryosis engraved nice and big for everyone to see.

Lumiere looked at all of them and, despite seeing only two warriors, smiled slightly, knowing that their ability to fight wouldn't matter if their hope didn't give out, and as long as their friends and family were still alive, that wasn't about to give out any time soon.

"Where are Volteer and Winter?" Bane asked.

"Here! We're here!" Volteer cried, rushing into the bar with Winter in tow.

Neither of them were wearing very heavy armor, just a bit of leather to protect their vitals, but Winter was wearing some kind of pendant with runes of protection revolving around a diamond in the center.

"Sorry we're late," she said, walking up to the group.

Lumiere looked at her and said, "You don't have to go."

"Why are you so worried about me?" Winter asked. Before Lumiere could respond, she added, "Is it because you think I'm some fragile female incapable of taking care of herself?" Lumiere could only gape as she continued. "I'm only going down there to take notes, not fight a battle, and even if I was pulled into one, I can handle my own. Why do you think my father let me come in the first place?"

Lumiere shook himself out of his stupor and focused forward. But before he let the matter drop, he smiled and mumbled, "Your funeral."

His friends all snorted or coughed in a poor-made attempt to hide their laughter. He walked up to the edge of the hole in the wooden floor in the bar, staring in at the hallway that they emerged from last time they were in there and, with luck, would emerge back from, this time with their friends and loved ones in tow.

He turned back to the group and asked, "You guys ready?"

Vyra answered first by jumping into the air past Lumiere and gliding to the floor, which was pretty far down. Lumiere smiled and shook his head, chuckling as he jumped headfirst into the hole, followed closely by Cynder, Cyclone, and Ember, all of whom spread their wings at the last second to keep from splattering on the ground. They were joined by Volteer and Bane a second later, followed a few seconds later by Winter, who fell on her face with a _smack!_

"Even the mighty must fall sometimes," Lumiere joked, making everyone there chuckle. Winter glared at him before they all focused on the long hallway ahead of them. Lumiere gazed at the dead end and said, "Et exitus revelare."

With that, the wall in front of them disappeared, revealing the room they were in last time, only this time, it was completely dark without the light of the gem to illuminate the chamber. Lumiere's eyes began to glow like they had so many times before, but instead of looking through Kirk's memories, he looked through Jinx's.

He turned back to the group one last time and said, "Remember, don't let your guard down."

He turned back forward and started walking, but he recited the spell to open the huge chamber door and once again entered the Dark Catacombs in search of their friends and their captor.

 _M_

"Angelus."

Kirk looked to see everyone gathered around him, but he had none of them restrained, which baffled the one who had just spoken.

The Dark Master.

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't they restrained?" the Dark Master asked.

"Because they don't need to be," Kirk replied. "They're here of their own free will so that you will have more power when you awaken."

The Dark Master's voice boomed, "You disobeyed my direct orders."

"For a greater cause," Kirk retorted.

Kirk looked at the crystal in the center of the room to see the Dark Master still in there with his eyes closed, but who was speaking came out of the shadows at that moment. Out of the blackness around the chamber crawled the Mimics, followed by a few apes with restraints. Everyone but Kirk instinctively took a step back out of fear, and the one with an eye missing stepped in front of Kirk.

"I thought you said they were here of their own free will," it pointed out.

"They are," Kirk said. "You startled them is all."

The Mimic narrowed its eye at the group, all of whom were tense, and said, "Be at ease, young ones; I am not here to harm you. You are merely here to serve a purpose in the beautiful new world I will create."

"Beautiful my ass," Kirk muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!" the Mimic hissed.

"Nothing, o wise one," Kirk said sarcastically.

The Mimic growled and got in his face, saying, "If you do not watch that tongue of yours, I'll have it cut from your mouth."

"You'd be doing yourself a favor there… except for the fact that _servants_ like me need to speak," Kirk retorted.

The Mimic only growled before turning back to the group, who gathered protectively around Incindia, all noticeably shaking.

"Rejoice, for your meaningless lives will serve purpose in the cleansing of the world, the cleansing of the plague that is dragons. You few will be the downfall of that wretched species, those who put themselves over everyone else."

The Mimics gathered around the group of young dragons, pushing Kirk out of the way, who growled at this, as they all studied the group. One turned back to Kirk and said, "Begin the ritual."

Kirk nodded solemnly, but smiled and winked at Jinx. Jinx smiled shakily back and stood just a bit straighter, her friends following her example.

Kirk lowered his head and began to chant in an ancient language. Immediately, the whole group was almost swept off their feet with how much of their mana was taken at one time, but they stood strong and let their mana drain from their bodies. The truth was they had planned this out from the beginning, and so far, everything was going according to plan. Their mana bunched up and mixed in the air, forming a white mist that then fed into all the Mimics, who twitched before getting sucked into the crystal and into the Dark Master's body. Then, in an instant, his eyes opened and the crystal shattered. The ritual had left the whole group exhausted, and they fell to the ground as this happened. The Dark Master looked at them and muttered something as he walked up to Kirk, who put his head low in a bow.

"Seems you still have served me well," he said in a dark, multilayered voice. "Now kill them."

The group pretended to act shocked, and Spyro even let out a strained, "No…" Kirk took a deep breath and stood strong, however.

"Is there a problem?" the Dark Master asked impatiently.

"Just one," Kirk said, snapping his eyes up. "You hurt Lumiere."

Quick as lightning, Kirk's tail became encased in Ice and impaled the Dark Master's head, and Kirk removed it in that same instant to ensure his death. Blood spewed from the wound and his mouth, and the Dark Master fell to the ground, choking on it and gurgling weakly.

"Why…?" he choked out.

Kirk held the Dark Master's head in his right forepaw and said, "Because you hurt not only my family, but myself; I just wanted to be able to see the light fade from your eyes as I say, 'Cionaro, sucker.'"

"Yo-you… you…" the Dark Master wheezed, before faint laughing could be heard filling the chamber. "You… you fool!"

Kirk was thrown back a few yards, landing on the wall with a _thud!_ that could probably be heard throughout this corner of the Catacombs. They watched in horror as the wound on the Dark Master's neck, which would've been fatal to anyone else, washed over with a dark substance before healing itself, leaving no indication that the wound was ever there.

"You gave me the power of a thousand suns!" the Dark Master cackled maniacally. "You should've been more careful if you were going to betray me!"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Kirk groaned. He got up and dashed over to the kids before the Dark Master could even move, using his power over time to dart over faster than the eyes could see, and ran out of the chamber, making sure to slam the door shut. "Min anoíxete poté aftí tin pórta xaná!"

"We… we failed…" Spyro whispered.

Kirk reached for the pouch he had concealed from view and pulled out a pawful of green gems, throwing them on the ground in front of the young dragons, who absorbed them all in an instant.

"How did he do that?" Incindia asked.

"That should've killed him! He shouldn't be alive!" Voltia claimed. She looked at Kirk and asked, "Did you do something wrong?"

"No, the spell's foolproof! This shouldn't have gone wrong…" Kirk claimed. They were brought back to reality by a slamming sound from the door. "Hold onto me," Kirk said. Everyone did so without hesitation, Incindia climbing up to cling to his neck, accidentally digging her nails into his flesh from fear, while the others grabbed onto his legs and sides. Kirk slowed time again and ran like hell, darting back to the cell area in the blink of an eye.

"What are we doing back here?" Voltia asked as an earsplitting _crack!_ rang throughout the halls, and the Dark Master roaring for blood made them all start to tremble.

"Afíste ti mageía se aftés tis báres!" Kirk said, aiming his magic to Dika's cell.

After a few seconds, Kirk grabbed a bar in each of his paws as Dika shot up and into the light. "What're you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"I wouldn't be me if I wasn't," Kirk said before bending the bars so that Dika had enough room to squeeze through. "Grab on," he said. Dika complied without so much as a word, and as soon as she did, Kirk took off down the hall, breaking the sound barrier.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night.**


	26. Salvation

**Hey, what's up? Sorry for not updating in a while, but I need to cut back for the sake of keeping ahead in my writing so I don't burn myself out. Again, sorry for the wait, but I hope this kinda makes up for it.**

"What was that?" Volteer asked, hearing the ear-shattering roar that reverberated throughout the halls.

Lumiere looked in the direction it came from and saw a large white form barreling through the hall faster than the eye could track.

"Angelus," Lumiere growled.

His friends all growled as they got into fighting positions, but stopped when Bane cried, "Jinx!"

They looked to see that all of their friends were clinging to him for some reason as another roar sounded through the halls. Kirk slid to a stop in front of the group, before everyone got off of him and Kirk doubled over, panting like a dog. The black dragoness that was on his back walked around and whispered something.

"I'll be fine," he said.

"You could've busted a lung or something," the black dragoness said. "Don't do something like that again."

When another roar sounded, Kirk said, "I may not have a choice."

"Who are you?" Bane asked with a threatening growl. "Are you the one they call Angelus?"

"Just call me Kirk," the white dragon replied nonchalantly.

"You are under arrest for the kidnapping of five minors," Bane snarled. "You're coming with us."

"I can't," Kirk said simply.

"And why not?"

"Because I'm the only one who can take on the Dark Master without getting slaughtered," Kirk replied, turning to Bane with glowing eyes that cast an eerie blue glow on the armor he was wearing.

Jinx appeared by his side and said, "Daddy, it's alright; we can trust him."

Everyone there looked at her when she said this, baffled at her words until Spyro backed her up by saying, "She's right; he's not gonna hurt us."

They stood there for a few seconds while contemplating what to do, or if they were under any sort of influence from Kirk, but when Lumiere felt Jinx prod his mind, he only felt her, and knew immediately that she was telling the truth.

"Stand down," Bane commanded. Another roar, only much, much closer than before. "Or not."

"You guys run," Kirk said, turning to them. "Go, get out of -"

The wall to their left exploded in a fury of stone and dark energy, making them all go flying in separate directions. When the dust settled, there stood the Dark Master with a disapproving look. He scanned their group with eyes full of only hatred and malice, before they landed on Lumiere's already-moving form. When they did, he gained a sadistic grin and moved towards him, his tail-blade swinging menacingly behind him, while Lumiere tried to crawl out from under the chunk of rock he was stuck under.

"You've been quite problematic, young one," the Dark Master said, stepping on Lumiere's throat with his right paw. Lumiere gasped for breath and tried to turn away from the Dark Master's piercing yellow gaze that seemed to stare through his soul. "Your death shall not be a quick one. I will ensure you -"

"GET THE FUCK OFF HIM!"

Lumiere couldn't turn his head to see who had roared, but a ball of white scales and black feathers above him gave him a pretty good indication as to who had saved him. He coughed and wheezed for a few seconds before looking to see Kirk atop the Dark Master, slashing and biting to where some of his wounds couldn't keep up with how fast he reopened them, and weren't able to heal. Had he not been able to regenerate as fast as he did, everyone there thought that nothing of any living creature would be left by now, other than a red smear on the ground. All of a sudden, though, the Dark Master wrapped his tail around Kirk's throat and flipped him over.

"Kirk!" Dika cried before trying to charge forward herself, only to be stopped by Bane and Volteer holding her back.

Kirk made a couple attempts at breathing, but all that would come out were choking sounds and wheezing, much like Lumiere only a second ago.

"Fool," the Dark Master jeered.

"Lumi, you have to help him!" Jinx cried.

"Why?" Lumiere retorted. "He took you from me!"

"It's not always about you, Lumi!" Jinx screamed at him. "His plan was to break the Dark Master free, then kill him!"

"Yeah, look how well that turned out," Lumiere mumbled.

"Just help him, dammit!" Jinx yelled. Lumiere snapped his gaze to her as she said this, but when he looked in her eyes, he saw only pleading. "Please…" she whispered.

Lumiere growled lowly at himself and focused on the Dark Master's form as he was pulled from under the debris. When he was completely upright, he said, "Repello!"

The Dark Master's hold on Kirk's neck was relinquished, and he was sent flying into the wall, only to emerge good as new.

"You fools! I am immortal! You cannot kill me!" he roared.

"Lumiere!" Kirk said. Lumiere snapped his gaze to his larger counterpart as he said, "Malefor isn't the one you want!"

"What're you talking about?!" Spyro yelled back. "The Dark Master has to be stopped!"

"But the Dark Master isn't Malefor!" Kirk yelled.

"What?!" they all yelped in surprise.

"I'll hold him down!" Kirk shouted. "Someone expel the darkness from his body!"

As Kirk lunged at the Dark Master with his claws outstretched, everyone but Dika only stood with confused expressions, leaving Dika to jump in as well as Kirk got the Dark Master under control. Dika came in and held down his left limbs, while Kirk held down his right limbs and tail as they waited for everyone to catch up.

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" he screamed. "Do it!"

Lumiere was the first to come back to his sense, although not by himself; he felt as if someone… beyond was controlling him as he said, "Nisi de una hac tenebris."

The effect was immediate; the Dark Master started thrashing around in Kirk's and Dika's grasp, forcing them to tighten their hold on him and hang on for dear life while the Dark Master flailed about violently in their steel grips.

"Someone help!" Kirk yelled.

Bane and Volteer came immediately and helped them restrain the Dark Master's thrashing form, who was now roaring in what sounded like both anger and agony, his eyes glowing fiercely and what looked like Shadow coming off of him in long tendrils that whipped about like he was, forcing the four dragons holding him down to start dodging them while keeping their grip on him.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" the Dark Master roared. "YOU LITTLE -"

He was cut off by Kirk punching him squarely in the jaw, making a loud _crunch!_ ring out, signalling that the white dragon had broken his mouth before he busied his hands to once again restrain the Dark Master.

Then, all of a sudden, the Dark Master's roars changed from actual roaring to more like shrieking while his scales began to flicker, much to their surprise. When his scales flickered, the form of a Mimic separated from him, mirroring him as it looked like it was trying to reattach itself like a desperate parasite that needed the host to survive. Every time this happened, Kirk tried to grab the neck of the Mimic and pull him away, but only succeeded in grabbing air since the tendrils looked like they were trying to defend against this. Bane, who was right next to Kirk, saw this and joined in trying to pull the Mimic from who now looked like Malefor, who began changing sizes as well, getting smaller and smaller, before growing again as the Mimic tried to stay attached.

"NOOOO!" the Mimic yelled as it was torn from Malefor's body. Kirk and Bane threw the Dark Master down the hall while Volteer and Dika pulled Malefor, who was now the same size as all the kids there, back to safety. The Dark Master stood back up and roared, "YOU IMBECILES!"

"Why are we stupid again?" Kirk growled. "For trying to save a kid from you?"

"I still needed him!" the Dark Master yelled.

"Yeah, for trying to destroy the world, you fucking madman!" Kirk screamed.

The Dark Master growled loudly and shouted, "Fine! I can still get to the Nexus without him!"

Kirk visibly paled when he said this, and his scales were white, so what the Dark Master said must've been _bad_. "You wouldn't…" he whispered.

The Dark Master grinned sinisterly and said, "Oh I would." He stepped back and said, "I bid you all farewell, and may you all rest in pieces!" Shadow gathered around him and formed a tornado, making everyone back up and cover their eyes, since the tornado started to pick up debris and throw it all over the place. Everyone… but Kirk.

As the Dark Master started to glow, Kirk muttered, "See you in Hell." Then, just like that, the tornado subsided, dropping all the debris all over the place. The only problem was the Dark Master was nowhere to be found. When everyone uncovered their eyes, the saw Kirk scowling at where the Dark Master used to stand. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before snapping them open, roaring, and punching the ground, leaving a crack in the stone. "GODDAMMIT!" he roared.

"What? What happened? Where'd he go?" Dika asked, since she was the only on bold enough to say anything to the raging male in his current state.

Kirk took a shaky breath and said, "He went to the Echo Nexus."

At his words, Dika adopted a horrified look. "Kirk… please, please, _please_ tell me you're lying…."

"No…" Kirk whispered. "He couldn't have gone anywhere else…."

"Echo Nexus?" Lumiere asked. "Other realm? What the hell is going on?"

Kirk and Dika exchanged a glance before they looked to him, then Cynder, then back to him, and Kirk said, "The Dragon Realms aren't exactly the only realms."

Winter stepped up and asked, "You mean alternate universes?" Kirk nodded. Winter looked surprised and said, "But how is that possible? I mean, to just… _jump_ from universe to universe would require the energy of a million suns at one time! Just the energy of one sun alone would be enough to rip anyone apart… I don't even want to think what a million suns would do to someone…."

"The Dark Master…" Dika began, "he's not a someone… he's a some _thing_."

"An entity of pure darkness," Kirk added, "unable to die because he is undead, but unable to live because he isn't alive. When he _was_ alive, he put a spell on himself so that when he _did_ die, his essence would live on."

"Who was he?" Lumiere asked.

Kirk looked down for a second before saying lowly, "Mortus."

"Mortus?" Bane asked. "The one who nearly lay waste to Warfang in the fifteenth age?"

"The one who slaughtered half the dragon race to prove a point?" Volteer asked.

"The one who was corrupted by the Forbidden elements?" Winter wondered.

" _That's_ Mortus?" Lumiere asked them.

Winter looked at him and asked, "Were you not paying attention in history class for the past four years?"

"Why does everyone forget that I have _amnesia_?" Lumiere sighed.

Before Winter could respond, and everyone could tell she wanted to, Kirk spoke up and said, "We need to get back to the surface and get him to an infirmary."

He gestured to Malefor's limp form, and everyone directed their attention to him. Tears filled Cynder's eyes as she said, "I didn't think I'd ever have to see him again…."

"Cynder," Dika said gently, "whatever he did to you… that wasn't him; that was Mortus."

Kirk picked up Malefor and placed him on his back. He then turned to the others and said, "He was like a parasite, feeding off of his power for over three hundred years; this kid's lucky to be alive."

"He's like Cynder, then?" Spyro asked.

Kirk regarded him for a second before walking forward while explaining. "If Cynder was directly possessed by a parasitical evil entity hellbent on the destruction of everything you've ever known and loved, then yes. If she was only influenced and maybe changed, then it was only a part of him. Either way, yes; she would've been influenced by Mortus' power."

As he walked, he kept glancing back at both Lumiere and Cynder for whatever reason, who were both walking close to their respective mates while also right next to each other. The two dragons never noticed, however, as they were busy fussing over their mates, as was everyone else, much to everyone else's amusement.

"You sure you're alright?" Lumiere asked for the hundredth time.

"I'm fine, Lumi," Jinx giggled.

"You're positive?"

"Positive," Jinx laughed.

"Lumiere," Bane said from behind them, "maybe you should let her rest for a bit; no doubt she's been through a lot."

"Thanks, Daddy," Jinx said, looking back at him gratefully yet still amused. "Maybe you should listen to the big guy."

Lumiere sighed in defeat and said, "Alright." He settled for just wrapping his tail around hers and walking next to her, nuzzling her affectionately as she started purring with contentment. All around him, the others followed his example, and for a score, everything was quiet. They walked through the halls for a few minutes, possibly a half hour, until they came to the chamber once again. Lumiere recited the spell and opened the door, before Kirk opened the door to the exit, and the hole to the surface became visible to them once again.

"It's been too long," Kirk said.

"Too bad it might not be for more than a couple days," Dika reminded him.

Kirk smiled and said, "Well, might as well live for those couple of days."

Dika smiled and whispered something in his ear unheard by everyone else, but if Kirk's red face was anything to go by, they got the gist of what she said. When they were directly under the hole, they all flapped their wings and lifted themselves up to the surface. In the bar already was Pyra, Terrador, Cyril, Iciclis, Duke, and Tinaral.

When Jinx saw her, she ran towards her with a smile and yelled, "Mom!"

Tinaral smiled with tears in her eyes and bent down to embrace her daughter, nuzzling the top of her head and crying tears of pure relief. Bane walked over and hugged his mate and daughter, resulting in a very heartwarming scene that made everyone have to bite back an "Aww."

Lumiere, not really knowing what to do, yet not wanting to join in on the hug and ruin their moment, stood by Angelus and Dika, who everyone else's attention was on, along with the small purple dragon on his back.

"Is that…?" Terrador asked.

Kirk looked at him and said, "Yeah, and his state is the equivalent of someone who just came out of a three-hundred-year coma; we need to get him to an infirmary or he will die."

"Follow me," Pyra said, taking charge as the Head Guardian and bounding out of the bar, taking flight with Kirk right behind her.

As they left, Dika asked, "What's gonna happen to him?"

Cyril huffed and said, "Unless he miraculously doesn't remember the past three hundred years, Malefor will have to be put on trial for the crimes he committed."

"I wasn't talking about him," Dika said lowly.

Cyril and Terrador exchanged a glance before Terrador asked, "Is that Angelus?"

"His name is Kirk, but that's his alias."

Before anyone could respond to that, Spyro spoke up and said, "He's not that bad of a guy when you get to know him."

"Yeah, he let me have some wine!" Incindia said cheerfully.

Toxia cut in and said, "But only to prove that she wouldn't like it! After that, he gave her soda."

"I think we should go back to the infirmary so we know you are all alright," Bane suggested.

So, with that, they all exited the bar and took flight, following the path Pyra and Kirk took just seconds prior.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a great day/night!**


	27. Normal-ish

**Hey, what's up? Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while; life kinda got in the way. _But_ I have finally got a schedule together; I'll be uploading every two weeks so that I don't burn myself out, and you're not stuck waiting (too long) for new chapters. Sorry if that's not enough for you, but it's what works best for me. So with that out of the way, enjoy! **

M

"So what now?" Lumiere asked everyone.

At the moment, they were all sitting around in the large waiting area next to Malefor's infirmary room, looking back on what had happened in the past month. So far, they came up with things like 'Lumiere showed up out of nowhere,' 'Flame and Ember finally got together,' 'Lumiere ran away,' 'they fell into the Dark Catacombs,' 'they rediscovered Mimics and the wyverns,' 'half of them got kidnapped and one of the wyverns was killed,' 'the kidnapper turned out to be on their side,' and 'Mortus was back.'

"All this adventure packed into one month…" Spyro started. "I think I'm gonna take a nice long nap when we get back to our dorms."

Spyro was talking about rooms that the Guardians had provided himself, Cynder, Flame, Ember, and Toxia, since they were from other cities, or they didn't have parents in Spyro and Cynder's case.

"Yeah, I think we could all use one after what happened," Cyclone added, sending a look towards Lumiere. It wasn't one of hate, blame, or disgust, but it wasn't a comforting look, and that made Lumiere shrink down and lower his gaze to the floor.

Ever since they had gotten out of the Dark Catacombs, the others besides Spyro, Jinx, and Vyra seemed to be a bit more wary of him, almost as if they blamed him for the events of the past couple days, but being subtle about it, like sending weird glance or adding a bit more bit to their words when conversing with him. Spyro, being the hero he was, didn't want to believe that it was Lumiere that caused all their problems, but their own bad luck. Jinx, obviously, was his lover and wanted to believe the same thing, along with Vyra, being his adopted sister and family. Cynder was somewhere in the middle, not knowing what to think, and Incindia was her usual childish self, not knowing what was going on in the first place.

Still though, it seemed as if everyone else was pretty much blaming him for what happened. But if he was being honest, he was surprised they didn't blame him earlier; if it wasn't for him running away, they wouldn't be stuck in this mess. Of course, Jinx tried to make him see the silver lining; the fact that they'd rescued Incindia from the Dark Catacombs. But even considering that fact, it was nothing compared to what he'd dragged his friends into in the past few days. He ran away, he got Cynder captured, he pulled them into an adventure that none of them wanted, he nearly got himself killed with his recklessness (twice), he caused the death of one of the last two wyverns in existence, he got half of his company kidnapped, and he almost left a hatchling to die alone and afraid in the Dark Catacombs.

"Well then what are we still doing here?" Ember piped up. "Let's get out of here."

"We can't; we still have to wait for Malefor to wake up," Winter pointed out. "We have to know if he should be put on trial or not."

"Screw that," Cyclone said, standing up. "I need some sleep, and I'm sure Toxia does too."

"You're not wrong," Toxia sighed, also standing up.

"I think Ember and I are gonna take off too," Flame replied.

Both couples made their way out of the infirmary, leaving Winter, Lumiere, Jinx, Incindia, Spyro, Cynder, Vyra, and Voltia alone.

"I think I'm gonna go too," Voltia said, getting up. "Vyra, do you wanna come with me?"

"No, I'll stay here the night," Vyra replied.

Voltia nodded in understanding and also took her leave. Now was when Lumiere felt the need to break the deafening silence and tension.

"I screwed up."

Everyone turned to him when he uttered these three simple words.

"Lumi, what're you talking about?" Jinx asked concernedly. "You didn't screw up anything."

"If I hadn't run away, none of this would've ever happened," he said in a voice laced with melancholy.

"But if you hadn't run away, we wouldn't found Incindia!" Jinx reminded him, trying to lift his mood.

Spyro also felt the need to speak up. "Yeah, and besides, I know we can get through this if we just stick together."

"Look how well _that_ turned out," Lumiere muttered.

"Look, they just don't see it yet… that this is all just a stroke of bad luck," Vyra told him.

Still, Lumiere didn't feel as wanted as he did when he had _all_ of his friends with him. It was only his friends that kept his mind off of what he was like before he lost his memory, but now, with half their original company gone, he felt the need to know what he was like before, and if he always brought people this kind of bad luck. He didn't care if it would lead to more pain than now; he needed to know, but with even the Chronicler's book on him blank, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting any information about his past life.

Jinx, of course, read his mind and said, "How many times do we have to tell you? That's not who you are anymore."

Lumiere flinched. "Sorry…" he apologized dejectedly.

"Lumi, don't be sorry about it," Jinx said gently. "Do something about it!"

Lumiere kept his eyes downcast and nodded.

"I'm hungry," Incindia piped up out of nowhere.

Jinx looked in her direction and smiled. "Well, we'll get you something to eat in a little bit. How's that sound?"

"Okay," Incindia whispered.

Jinx sighed and turned back to Lumiere with her eyes full of concern and her posture radiating worry. She gently placed on of her paws over his comfortingly, which made Lumiere finally look up. Out of some unspoken agreement, they both closed their eyes and leaned forward, knocking their foreheads together softly.

"I love you, Lumiere, and I know that everything'll work out in the end," she whispered to him, her eyes filling with tears.

Lumiere only nodded in what capacity he could, tears brimming his eyes as well. They pulled back only for a brief moment to share a tender kiss, before resuming their position as Jinx's tail wrapped around Lumiere's and squeezed it lightly in reassurance.

"He-hello…?" asked a voice from the doorway to the room.

Everyone in the room snapped their heads in the direction of the doorway and saw a spitting image of Malefor, but younger and with lighter scales. He stood there with timid purple eyes with tinted blue that scanned everyone there with apprehension while also making himself look smaller than he really was, though he was already pretty scrawny to begin with, and weak by the looks of it; he was trembling so much, it seemed like a light tap from anyone would knock him over.

"You're awake…" Lumiere whispered. He stood up completely, wiping the tears from his eyes as he yelled, "HE'S AWAKE!"

Malefor shrunk down in response to the noise and shook his head to get rid of his headache. "Wh-who are you? What's so big about me waking up that you have to shout it?"

"Malefor -" Jinx started.

"Who's… Malefor?" the purple male asked.

Jinx and Lumiere exchanged a glance before looking back to the now nameless purple dragon, everyone behind them just as shocked as they were.

"What's your name then?" Lumiere asked.

"Ferlost," he replied.

Lumiere looked to Winter for her to give some sort of history lesson, but she looked just as shocked as he felt. He looked to the others before looking back at the purple dragon. Ferlost. Wasn't that an ancient name?

"So your name isn't Malefor…?" Spyro asked quietly.

Ferlost turned to him and said, "No, Malefor's a name for dragons of Shadow. And why are you using the Chameleon Effect to make yourself purple?" He paused for a minute while Spyro made a confused face. "Where's Elder Vatra? I wish to speak with her."

They could all see that the purple dragon was slowly but surely gaining confidence, rising to his full height and standing straight like a soldier at attention, though his eyes still remained wary of everyone there.

Winter frowned in confusion. "Elder Vatra's been dead for over three hundred years."

Ferlost furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? I left the Temple on an errand for her only last night!"

"Sure you did," Cynder spat, looking away from him.

Ferlost jerked his head back at how rude Cynder was being, not knowing that she was justified in acting so. He looked to the others, expecting someone to answer, but everyone just stared back at him with mixed feelings in their eyes. On one hand, they could have another very powerful ally with them should another possibly cataclysmic event reveal itself, but on the other, this was the former Dark Master they were talking about.

"What are you saying?" he asked them.

Lumiere exchanged another glance with Jinx before letting out a heavy sigh. "Ferlost… you've been possessed by an evil spirit for over three hundred years."

"Possessed, my ass," Cynder growled.

"I was… possessed… by an evil spirit… for three hundred years…?" he asked in confused fear, not knowing what to think.

Then again, the last thing he remembered was hearing a dark voice saying that it would be okay, then everything went black. Maybe he shouldn't have entered those ruins…. Was he the only one that knew about them? If these dragons were lying, then he would have to find Elder Vatra and tell her about the tombs. What would she think? Would she scold him for sticking his nose where it didn't belong, or would she praise him for finding something ancient and valuable to the archeological community and send a dig team out?

"Male -" Lumiere started before shaking his head and correcting himself. "Ferlost… do you really not remember _anything_ past your errand?"

Ferlost shook his head. "No, I swear on my Ancestors that I'm telling you the truth, and only the truth."

"Really? Because I remembered everything I've ever done under your influence," Cynder snarled.

"Would someone please explain to me what her problem is?" Ferlost asked.

"My problem?!" Cynder roared, shooting up from the ground with a livid snarl on her face. "My _problem_?! My problem is that you've disregarded the last three hundred years like it was _nothing_! Don't remember the lives you took?! The pain you've caused?! The families you ripped apart?! The fear you bred?! Don't you remember _any of that_?!"

"I -" Ferlost began, suddenly looking very scared and shrinking down.

"Well I do! I remember everything you made me do! I remember every single face of every single dragon I've ever killed! I remember the nightmares got so bad I almost flung myself off a _fucking roof_! I almost _committed suicide_ because of what you did! _You_ did it! Not me, not anyone else! _You_ did! And you're a monster for it!"

"Cynder…" Spyro tried softly.

"No, Spyro! I've had enough of his bullshit! He's caused me too much pain!"

By now literally every ounce of confidence Ferlost had before went down the drain, and he was reduced to the state of a trembling, whimpering hatchling that was scared of everything it saw. Everyone but Cynder saw the tears in his eyes, but none of them tried to stop Cynder from speaking, or rather shouting, her feelings; those that knew her found out a long time ago that the best thing to do was to let her vent her emotions, so they didn't interfere in any way after Spyro tried to get her to listen to him.

Thankfully, she just padded out of the room, purposely bumping into Ferlost quite harshly, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground, after which he let out a pained yelp accompanied by a _crack_! that was barely heard in the room. Cynder stopped for a second, but growled and continued walking after only a second.

"Cynder!" Spyro called, running after her.

No sooner than Spyro ran out of the door did the Guardians appear in the doorway, followed by Bane, Iciclis, Kirk, and Dika, who looked after him for a second before focusing their attention on Ferlost, who was slowly trying getting up off the ground.

Before any of them could get a word out, Lumiere spoke up with a quiet, "His name's Ferlost, not Malefor."

Everyone was silent for a minute, everyone looking to Ferlost, who was still on the ground, now having given up getting off it and now writhing in what looked like pain.

"What happened to him?" Pyra asked.

"Cynder just bumped into him, and he fell down," Jinx replied.

Cyril pushed his way to the front of the group. "Where is she now?" he asked.

"She stormed off just before you guys got here," Vyra stated. "Spyro followed her."

Now, they looked at Ferlost, who was still sitting on the ground, but no longer dramatically writhing. Kirk regarded him with a sympathetic look, while the others eyed his form warily.

"This is the dragon that nearly downed the realm in one fell swoop?" Terrador asked.

"Downed the realm…?" Ferlost muttered.

"So he doesn't remember…" Volteer whispered.

Lumiere took initiative and padded forward to help Ferlost up off the ground. "Hey, why don't we get you back in your infirmary room? I think it'd be easier to -"

He was cut off by a loud yell from Ferlost as he tried to heave him off the ground, making him jump away out of instinct and accidentally dropping him, after which the purple dragon let loose another howl of pain.

"What the hell?" Lumiere breathed.

"I got him," Jinx spoke up, stepping forward and reaching out with her Fear element to subdue Ferlost's mind. It worked, but only slightly; Ferlost's eyes glazed over a tiny bit, but he did stop yelling, so that was a plus they were willing to accept.

"Kirk, can you…?" Jinx asked the white male.

"Yeah, no problem," Kirk sighed, reaching down and grabbing Ferlost by the scruff of his neck. This was followed by a loud whimper of discomfort, but nothing more as Kirk reached around and set him down so that he was nestled in between his feathered wings. After he did so, he walked out of the room and into Ferlost's infirmary room, followed closely by everyone else.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	28. Settling Down

_M_

"He has what?" Lumiere asked Kirk.

The two had now found some alone time away from the others, who were still in Ferlost's infirmary room awaiting Kirk's verdict. Now, they were both in the room they were previously in, and Kirk had told Lumiere what he thought it was.

"Osteogenesis imperfecta," Kirk repeated. "It's a disease that makes the bones very… actually extremely, easy to break. I saw it once in a movie a while back."

"How do you know that it's oste… osto… whatever you just said?" Lumiere asked him.

"It's painfully obvious, especially on his end," Kirk replied. "Most likely, he's got something like Phase I since it's not really looking too serious. That, and the fact that the whites of his eyes are tinted a slight blue."

Lumiere sighed. "If he actually has this, then how come we didn't see it when he was the Dark Master?"

"I'm thinking Mortus gave him a surprising amount of strength that made it go away somehow," Kirk suggested. "I remember that I had a heart condition that went away when he changed me with his dark powers, so why not a bone disease?"

"So what do you suggest we do?" Lumiere huffed.

Kirk looked back in the direction of Ferlost's room and said, "I think we should ask him what he used to do."

"What would that be?"

"I dunno… I can rule out crutches because dragons can't use them… Maybe some sort of wheelchair?"

"Well we can ask him like you said," Lumiere replied.

"Fair enough."

After a hesitant moment more, they both walked back into the cramped little room, where everyone was looking either nervous or bored, though Ferlost looked more tired than anything.

"Alright, the verdict is in," Kirk sighed.

"And?" Cyril asked impatiently.

"He's got something called osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease," Kirk explained. "Basically, his body can't produce a certain protein correctly and it makes his bones susceptible to breaks and fractures like he's experienced; he has two cracked ribs and a fractured right forearm."

"What do you suggest we do about it?" Ferlost asked.

"Actually, I was about to ask you the same question," Kirk replied.

Ferlost sighed. "I… I don't know what to do. I only remember bits and pieces of my life, but I don't remember having any kind of disease."

Kirk and Lumiere exchanged a look, before turning back to the purple male. Lumiere could relate, seeing as how he had to start out with no memory whatsoever, and here was a dragon that remembered at least something of his past, so that would be easier with them to work with. Minus his handicap. They didn't have the slightest clue of how to help Ferlost, but they figured they could figure it out on the way.

"I think I can help with that," Winter spoke up suddenly, making everyone turn to her. "I've heard of cheetahs and moles with this disease before, and I have a pretty good picture of the treatment."

"Winter, we're talking about dragons, not moles and cheetahs," Vyra pointed out.

"I know, but… I think I can come up with something." A bit of blue mist escaped her mouth as she said this, signalling that she was about to use her element, and everyone immediately knew to back up. Once they did so, Winter blew bits of ice onto the ground, slowly but surely making what appeared to be supports for his limbs. It took her only a few seconds, what with her being very skilled with her element so early, and once she was done, she said to Ferlost, "You might want to wrap it in something so the ice isn't rubbing against your skin."

Ferlost only nodded with sad eyes before looking back down at the supports. Everyone was silent for a moment, before Cyril picked them up and said, "I'll take these to the blacksmith so they can make iron models instead."

He picked them up and cradled them in his left forearm, before he padded out of the room carefully so he didn't drop the supports against the hard floor.

"I think everyone should go home and get a little rest," Pyra suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Everyone agreed half-heartedly and followed Pyra out of the room. At least everyone besides Winter.

Lumiere and Jinx looked back at her when they realized that she wasn't following them, and Lumiere asked, "You're not coming with us?"

"Someone's gotta stay behind and look after him," she replied with a slight smile.

Lumiere nodded and left her behind with an uneasy Ferlost, who watched them all as they filed out of the room one by one. Winter watched after them for a while, before sighing and making her way back to his bedside.

"Sooo… what's your name?" Ferlost asked her.

"Winter," she replied nonchalantly. Ferlost nodded and looked at the table to the side of his cot. He tried to reach over to it and grab the small bowl of water to take care of his parched throat, but he winced in pain and retracted his arm when he felt his chest and arm flare up. "Here, I'll get it for you," Winter said, rushing over and grabbing the bowl with one forepaw. She held it out with her paw so that Ferlost could take a sip.

"Thank you," he said, gratefully downing every drop in the bowl in the blink of an eye.

Winter smiled and asked, "Thirsty?"

"Parched, in fact," Ferlost replied.

Winter pulled her arm back and said, "I'll get you a bigger bowl, then."

She walked out of the room, leaving Ferlost alone with his thoughts for the time being. He didn't remember having any kind of disease before; even if his memory was blotchy at best, surely he'd remember something like that! Right? Right…?

'I don't know what to think anymore…' he thought to himself sadly.

He passed out in the ruins of an abandoned temple only last night, and yet these strangers are saying that he was possessed for three hundred years? If that dragoness… Cynder… if she remembered everything she did, why didn't he remember everything he did?

"Alright, here," said a voice from his bedside, distracting him from his thoughts.

He looked to see Winter standing there holding a bucket of water filled nearly to the brim. How much trouble had she gone through to lug that thing to a proper fountain and then back to his room?

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

"No problem," she replied.

'I doubt that,' Ferlost thought. Still, to know that a complete stranger would go through any amount of trouble to alleviate any ailments he had, whether it be thirst or his feeble bones, was… he didn't know the word to describe it, but it lifted his spirits in a way that was indescribable to him at the moment.

He took the bucket from her with with good paw and took a long gulp of nice cool water that soothed his throat, at the same time relieving it of its dryness.

"Hit the spot?" Winter asked him.

Ferlost took a deep breath before answering with, "Most definitely."

Winter smiled at that. "Good to hear."

They made eye contact for a brief moment before Ferlost tore his gaze away from her own to focus on the bucket. After a few seconds of standing there, Winter made her way to a chair near the end of the room, grabbing a book off of it before sitting down and opening the book to a seemingly random page.

"What are you reading?" Ferlost asked her curiously.

Without looking up at him, she replied with, "I'm studying for an exam I'm taking two days from now."

"I see…" Ferlost said quietly, nodding his head. "What are you studying for?"

Again, she didn't even move her head to sneak a glance at him. "An advanced elemental exam over the Universal elements."

"How advanced is this exam?" Ferlost asked.

This time, she actually bothered to look up at him and said, "What two Universal elements are able to work best together?"

"Fire and Electricity," Ferlost replied without missing a beat. At Winter's perplexed expression, he smiled and said, "You kind of become a bookworm when you can't play with the other children, and having Elder Vatra as a mentor; as nice as she was, she was strict on making sure I knew my elements."

Winter smirked. "Alright then, genius. What's the best way to use Earth in close-quarters combat?"

"Use it to create shockwaves that would throw enemies back, then use spikes to finish them off."

Winter looked absolutely dumbfounded. It took her a few seconds to recompose herself, only to have it broken again when Ferlost answered another question exactly on point.

Ferlost chuckled. "Shocked?"

"Extremely," Winter breathed. She closed her book and set it to the side, padding over to Ferlost's bedside with surprise still evident on her face. "Can you… help me study…? Please…?"

Ferlost mulled over it a bit before finally saying, "I'd be happy to."

And with that, Winter pulled the chair and book by his bedside so they could get ready for a night of studying together.

M

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Jinx asked Lumiere.

The two were taking advantage of the late hour to go for a relaxing walk together with the eerily beautiful moonlight of Adrano and Zella shining on them, creating a rather romantic atmosphere. But romance was about the last thing on either of their minds; right now, there were worried about what to do going forward from all this, more specifically with two purple dragons now in the picture.

"I think he'll be fine," Lumiere replied in response to her question. "I remembered I needed about a week or so to get used to my life here, but after that, I was completely fine."

"Well you weren't exactly the aggressor in the second biggest war in the history of the Dragon Realms," Jinx replied. "Besides, you got to start out with a clean slate. He still remembers stuff from his past life. Let's say you're both around three hundred years old and were somehow stopped from aging. You wouldn't have any problems because you remembered literally nothing about your past. He, on the other hand, remembered bits and pieces, which is a lot more than nothing in my eyes."

"Fair enough, but shouldn't he have at least remembered his… hindrance?" Lumiere asked in a careful tone.

"Sometimes we couldn't know unless we went through what he did," Jinx said.

Lumiere was silent for a moment at that, but after a few seconds, he finally sighed, "I just want this all to be over with."

He felt something wrap around his tail and squeeze it gently in reassurance. He looked to the undoubted culprit and was met with Jinx's beautiful scarlet eyes, glimmering in the moonlight. A look down her body saw that her scales glittered like tiny gems on her skin, making her look all the more beautiful. Lumiere closed his eyes and leaned his head forward, cocking it to the side a bit. Jinx did the same, and their lips met in a kiss of encouragement and comfort, finding solace in each other's presence.

When they broke the kiss, Jinx whispered, "I love you, Lumiere."

"I love you too, Jinx," Lumiere said, smiling at his girlfriend. He then grew nervous all of a sudden as a question popped in his mind that he'd been meaning to ask her for a while. "So… when do you wanna… become mates?" he asked her in a quiet, shaky voice.

Jinx giggled and said, "How about the night of Homecoming like you promised?"

Lumiere's nervousness was washed away when he heard that answer, and he once again smiled at his mate-to-be. He darted forward to catch her lips in a shorter kiss, before retreating and asking, "Did you wanna… head to my place tonight?"

"Actually, I was gonna suggest we crash at my place since it's closer," Jinx replied with a gentle smile. "How's that sound?"

Lumiere breathed a chuckle and said, "Sounds good to me."

"Well then let's go," Jinx urged, pulling him down the street and towards her house.

They passed a few stores on their way to Jinx's house with their lights surprisingly still on, and they slowed down for a brief moment to do a bit of window shopping, wondering what to get each other for Homecoming, before looking at each other with knowing grins and chasing each other down the streets like they did when they were only friends. Now that Lumiere looked back on it, he realized just how much of his free time was spent with Jinx; playing tag in the usually-crowded streets of Warfang, seeing who could fly the fastest from the Temple to wherever they chose, just talking when they were supposed to be doing their homework in Study Hall….

"C'mon, keep up, slowpoke!" Jinx called.

Lumiere gave a grin and a playful growl before running to catch up to her. No matter what, he could never seem to catch up to her, not even when the streets were empty and he had the Wind on his side. After about a minute more of running, they made it to Jinx's house, which was about the same as his own, except for the fact that the door was pale with a window in the center instead of a dark oak. Without a moment's hesitation, Jinx flung open the door and dove inside to avoid getting tagged by Lumiere, but her effort was in vain, since he lunged and landed light on top of her as soon as she was through the doorway.

"What in the name of the Ancestors…?!" a voice exclaimed.

They both looked to see Bane and Tinaral at the dinner table with their eyes wide open and their jaws practically on the floor. They quickly overcame their shock when they saw it was just them, however, and they got up to greet their unexpected visitor.

"Lumiere, what a surprise this is," Bane remarked with a smirk.

"Indeed," Tinaral agreed.

Lumiere got off Jinx before noticing the rather suggestive position they'd been in. Lumiere flushed red and kept his gaze on the ground out of embarrassment with a sheepish expression on his face. Jinx got up to face her parents as well with a timid smile that looked so unnatural on her.

"Hey, Daddy… Mom…" she said quietly.

"Hello, sweetheart," Tinaral replied slyly.

"Captain Bane…" Lumiere greeted, suddenly acting very interested in his paws.

"Lumiere," Bane chuckled. "Of all the guests I expected tonight, I expected you least."

"I-I'm sorry you had to see that, sir…" Lumiere stuttered.

"Don't worry about it," Bane said dismissively. "Would you like dinner?"

"Actually, him and I were gonna get some sleep," Jinx replied for him, pulling him through a long hallway to the right of the stairs going up before Bane could even get another word out.

In the hallway were three doors, one on the left and right, then one at the end of the hall. Jinx led him down the dark hall and pushed open the door on the right, which revealed her messy room; it wasn't exactly dirty, but it was hard for him to make out order from the chaos. School books littered the floor, and her dresser was covered in a thin sheet of dust; her bookshelf in the far left corner of the room had books lying every which way, and a blanket lay against her bed in the corner opposite, which had red bed sheets that were very messy. To top it all off, a box of takeout from a fast food place in the city sat empty on her bedside table, which was otherwise empty.

Jinx sighed and padded over to her bedside table, leaving Lumiere standing in the doorway as she threw the box into a black trash bin. "Sorry about the mess," she apologized as she moved some books over to her bookshelf, haphazardly placing them on it, cursing under her breath when she couldn't get them to fit.

"It's fine," Lumiere replied, walking over to her bed.

He was about to turn around and ask Jinx if it was okay to get on the bed, but before he could say anything, he was cut off by something colliding into his back and sending him into the bed anyways. He heard Jinx's distinct giggle emit from behind him, and he smiled devilishly as he prepared for his payack.

"Alright, you wanna play like that?" he growled with a shit-eating grin.

Before she could respond, he reared up and twisted around, throwing Jinx on the bed and stopping himself from losing balance by twisting back around. He pounced on her before she could stop him and began running his fingers delicately over her stomach, resorting to the lowliest of methods for payback. Tickling her. She immediately began to put up a fight, but between his relentless assault on her belly and her fits of laughter, she couldn't gather enough force to push him off.

"Lumi, stop it!" she cried, howling with laughter all the while. "Lumi, please! Stop!"

Lumiere caved in and stopped, now laughing as well. He smiled at her and said, "Maybe that'll teach you."

"Teach me what?" Jinx challenged with a smile.

"Oh that's it," Lumiere laughed.

He moved to begin tickling her again, but Jinx anticipated this and grabbed his wrists and flipping him on his side so that they lay facing each other on the bed. Slowly, their playful mood gave way to drowsiness, and Jinx let his paws go so that he could wrap them around her body as she did the same with him. They exchanged one last kiss before Jinx rolled around in bed so that she faced the wall, curling into Lumiere's chest. He smiled and wrapped his arm around her as he kissed and nuzzled her neck.

"Did you wanna go to breakfast tomorrow morning?" he asked her.

"Mmh… maybe," Jinx replied. "G'night."

"G'night," Lumiere said. "Love you."

"Love you too," Jinx groaned.

Lumiere smiled and closed his eyes, his head resting on top of her neck as he pulled her blanket to cover both of them, as it had been pushed aside in their little play fight. He squeezed her stomach slightly, getting a hint of a tired groan in response, before he finally fell asleep with a smile of contentment on his face.

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	29. Another Visit

**Hey, what's up? Sorry for being behind on uploads; I'm not gonna give you a whole big excuse, but I** ** _will_** **give you all three chapters that should've been uploaded thus far, including the one today! Great, right? Well, I'm not gonna hold you up any longer, so enjoy this chapter!**

 _M_

 _Lumiere opened his eyes to find that he was once again in the Chronicler's library, lying on his side on the cold, hard ground. After a long day, however, it beat everything else._

" _Lumiere," came Ignitus's voice._

 _Lumiere craned his neck and got up to face the Chronicler in all his glory. But when he saw the proud ex-Guardian standing there with his eyes downcast and almost panicked, he knew something was very, very wrong._

 _Lumiere looked around for a second before asking, "What're you here to warn me about this time?"_

 _Ignitus huffed and said, "I have come to warn you of Mortus."_

" _Mortus?" Lumiere asked. "He's out of our scales; he's gone, to someplace far away."_

" _Yes, but he is not dead yet; the threat of him returning lingers with his presence in the realm of the living."_

" _So we're not safe from him yet?" Lumiere asked dejectedly._

 _Ignitus huffed again and said, "No, you are not; you must defeat Mortus."_

" _How?" Lumiere asked, snapping his gaze to him. "You saw what he did to us! If he were using a fraction of his power, he'd be able to pick us apart like cotton candy…."_

" _Normally this would be the case," Ignitus said. "But you are one of the last two Celestial dragons. You are capable of far more than you realize; you need only hone your skills so that you may teach them to your children."_

" _One of two?" Lumiere questioned. "Who's the other?"_

 _Ignitus looked away and said, "The one you call Angelus, or Kirk."_

" _How does he play into this?"_

 _Ignitus looked back at him and began to explain._

" _The power of one Celestial dragon is unparalleled, but the power of_ two _Celestial dragons… now that would be one force to be reckoned with, even if one is adolescent. You have much to learn, including how to combine your power with that of another Celestial dragon, in this case Angelus; he already knows how to do this, hence why he is not here, and you are."_

 _Lumiere sighed and sagged. "What do I need to learn?" he asked dreadfully._

" _Much, young one," Ignitus said. "We still have quite a bit of time to prepare."_

'Something tells me this isn't gonna be fun…' _he thought._

 _His suspicions were confirmed when a couple training dummies popped out of the ground._

" _Let's begin, shall we?" Ignitus said. He smiled and said, "After all, we have a few hours left."_

'Kill me…' _Lumiere muttered to himself._

 _M_

 _After a few hours, Lumiere was left on the ground, panting heavily while he rested on his side. Those stone dummies had_ not _been gentle; that much was for certain._

" _Impressive, young one," Ignitus stated as he appeared in Lumiere's line of sight. "You did well; perhaps you may be able to confront Mortus sooner than we thought."_

" _We…?" Lumiere wheezed._

 _Ignitus chuckled as green gems materialized in front of him. Lumiere broke them instantly, and he was immediately rejuvenated. He took a deep breath and stood up, looking up and down his bruised body._

" _The Ancestors and I," Ignitus explained. "We had hoped for a strong one, and it seems Fate exceeded our expectations. The Ancestors are pleased with your swift progression, as am I, but you still have much to learn."_

" _How much?" Lumiere asked._

 _Ignitus sighed. "Judging by your progress, I daresay that your training will be done within the month."_

" _The_ month _?!" Lumiere exclaimed. He groaned and added, "I don't think I'll be able to last that long."_

" _Oh come now," Ignitus chided, "they don't hit_ that _hard."_

" _Easy for you to say; you're a lot bigger than me," Lumiere pointed out._

" _True," Ignitus agreed with a grin. "Still, it is necessary for the defeat of Mortus and the preservation of this realm."_

 _Lumiere breathed out a laugh and said, "I guess that's true."_

 _They were silent for a moment, just sitting there with the silence accompanying their thoughts before a loud bell rang out._

 _Ignitus' expression turned grim. "It seems our time is up, young one."_

" _What's that bell?" Lumiere asked._

" _Your call back to the land of the waking," Ignitus explained. "I'm surprised you heard it; not even Spyro could hear it when it rang before. Maybe it has something to do with your proficiency in training."_

 _Lumiere thought about that. What he needed was an explanation of why he was so adept in physical, close-quarter combat in the first place when he'd had only a little experience; these dummies, while still dummies, were a lot more skilled in battle than the gladiators at the Announcer's arena._

" _Remember, Lumiere, the Third Eye is the key to defeating Mortus, but only if the user is confident in his ability to use it," Ignitus said as the dream faded away._

 _Lumiere tried to open his mouth to question, but only found himself in blackness before passing out._

 _M_

Lumiere awoke to the sounds of birds chirping outside Jinx's window, tired and crabby as all hell. He groaned and took a deep breath, shifting his forearm to bring Jinx closer to him, only to find that she wasn't there. He opened his eyes, his pupils instantly assaulted with a barrage of blinding light, forcing him to close his eyes so that his sensitive retina weren't damaged, before opening them again and looking around the room. He took another deep breath and braced himself on his forelegs as he heard a toilet flush. After a few seconds, the door to the room opened, and in walked in a tired but happy-looking Jinx.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said in a groggy voice, clearly having just woken up herself.

Lumiere just closed his eyes and groaned, flopping back down on the bed with a groan, not at all ready to begin the day.

"What's wrong, tired?" Jinx guessed.

"You have no idea," Lumiere groaned.

His eyes fluttered opened again, and he had to practically drag himself out of Jinx's soft, warm bed and into the cold morning air. He took a deep breath as Jinx adopted a more concerned look.

"Lumi, what's wrong?" she asked with more worry in her voice than before. "You've never been this tired this late in the morning."

"What time is it?" Lumiere asked.

"Half past ten," Jinx replied, more worry creeping into her voice.

Lumiere just sighed and padded to the door. He gave Jinx a kiss and said, "I'll be fine. I just need to wake up is all."

Before she could respond, he trudged past her and into the door across from her room, which was the bathroom by the looks of it. A walk inside confirmed his theory, so he closed the door and took care of his morning business. After he opened the door, he noticed the smell of eggs and bacon in the air, along with Jinx waiting for him outside the bathroom. He gave her a tired smile, which she returned, but a little more hesitantly. He just brushed it off and let her lead the way back to the kitchen. Upon entry, he was met by Bane, who was at the dining room table reading a newspaper, and Tinaral, who was standing at the counter cutting up a red pepper.

When Bane looked up from the newspaper, he smiled and said, "Good morning."

"Morning, Daddy," Jinx replied, taking a seat at the table to the left of her father.

Lumiere, however, was a bit more apprehensive about sitting at the same table as his girlfriend's father after what happened the night before. He could've sworn he saw a bit of fatherly protection in his eyes before Jinx dragged him off, so Bane's friendly greeting completely disarmed him.

"Go ahead, Lumiere," Bane insisted, gesturing to the seat across from him.

Lumiere nodded politely. "Thank you, sir."

"Not a problem," Bane replied.

After a few minutes of sitting in awkward silence, Tinaral finished breakfast and set a steaming plate of eggs and bacon in front of everyone, but these eggs weren't like Pyra's; instead of having a bit of cheese melted on the top, Tinaral had sprinkled black pepper on hers, and there were bits of what looked like the actual pepper Lumiere saw her cutting up before. They all whispered their thanks before Bane set down the newspaper and began to eat, Jinx and Lumiere following his example. A few seconds later, Tinaral joined them with her own plate.

After a couple minutes, they had all but cleaned off their plates and Lumiere was now a bit more relaxed now that he had a bit of time to wake up.

"So what happened last night?" Bane asked the two adolescents.

His stomach dropped to his feet when Bane asked that question. His heart started racing and his palms were getting sweaty. He gulped audibly and shakily lifted his gaze to meet Bane's unreadable expression.

"U-uh… I uh… I-I… erm…" Lumiere stuttered nervously.

"Daddy, stop scaring him," Jinx said defensively. "Nothing happened last night."

Bane nodded slowly and focused on his cup of coffee that had been left forgotten when they started eating. It seemed that the tension at the moment could be cut with a knife.

"Well alrighty then!" Bane exclaimed suddenly, making Lumiere nearly jump out of his scales. Bane chuckled with fervor and reached for the cup, taking a sip before setting it down. When he caught Lumiere's startled look, he smiled as gently as he could for being Captain of the Warfang Regime and said, "I have no problem with you sleeping over any time you want, so long as you don't try anything with my daughter."

Lumiere was so scared he could only nod. So much for Homecoming.

"Alright, Daddy, he gets it," Jinx cut in. "Thanks for breakfast, Mom. Let's go, Lumi."

Lumi only nodded and got out of his seat. Something in him made him remember his manners, so he took both his and Jinx's plate in the kitchen and put them in the sink, after which he and Jinx said quick goodbyes to Bane and Tinaral before heading out for Dragon's Fire despite just eating.

Now, once again the streets were crowded, so he and Jinx had to weave their way in and out of the wave of dragons, moles, and cheetahs that were doing whatever they were doing that Wednesday morning. When they got there, they got a table for four, as they knew exactly who would be there and why.

Apparently, Spyro and Cynder had a pretty big fight the previous night, which Jinx found out when she attempted to contact Cynder to make sure she was alright, so she invited the two of them out for breakfast to repair their relationship, as they hadn't exactly ended that argument on the best of terms; Cynder ended up slamming the door to her dorm room in Spyro's face.

As expected, Cynder showed up first, but she looked completely different than last night. Instead of being furious, she now looked more ashamed than anything, which was evident in her tone when she sat down and greeted her two friends. Even her smile looked broken. Both Lumiere and Jinx tried to ask what was bothering her so much, but she kept ignoring their questions and changing the topic until Spyro showed up. Of course, being the amiable dragon he was, his anger didn't show like Cynder's last night, but Lumiere could easily see a fire raging in his purple eyes.

"Hey, Spyro," Jinx greeted.

"Jinx, Lumiere," Spyro greeted, being so unusually formal towards them, a sure sign that he was mad, before it was confirmed when he practically spat out, "Cynder."

It was subtle, again being Spyro, but to Lumiere and Jinx, it was noticeable enough to deduct that the purple dragon was absolutely _pissed_ at Cynder. This time, the roles were changed up; instead of Cynder being enraged at the situation and Spyro being unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end, it was now Spyro being furious at _her_ and Cynder being ashamed, all previous anger having now died down. Spyro sat in between Lumiere and Jinx, across from Cynder, with a sigh and immediately picked up a menu, refusing to even glance at Cynder, another sure sign that he was pissed. That, and the fact that he had Dragon's Fire's menu memorized, breakfast, lunch, and all, so he picked up the menu just to look at something other than Cynder.

"Soooo…" Lumiere started carefully, anxious of the fuming purple male beside him.

"How are you guys?" Jinx asked.

"Fine," Spyro lied, not looking up from the menu.

Cynder didn't respond to this.

Lumiere's paws drummed nervously on the table for a few seconds, before he caught himself by Spyro saying sharply, "Stop."

"Okaaayy…." Lumiere put his paws under the table before he grabbed the menu as well, since he, unlike everyone else, _didn't_ know the Dragon's Fire menu by heart. It didn't take him long to find what he wanted, and once he did, he put the menu down and mouth, "Shit," to Jinx, who nodded in agreement.

They hadn't expected it to be _this_ bad. It took a lot to get Spyro mad, so what could Cynder, his own mate, have said that pushed his buttons so badly? This was obviously not some ordinary argument couples have on the regular; this time, their bond was in danger of being severed. Spyro and Cynder saved the _entire world_ together, so for a bond like that to be severed would be extremely traumatic on both ends. Especially the receiving end.

They had to fix this. Now.

"Hey, y'know you two can't just ignore each other, right?" Jinx asked.

"And why not?" Spyro snapped, finally taking his eyes off the menu he'd been staring at since he got there.

"Because you two care about each other," Lumiere replied, gathering up what courage he had.

Spyro scoffed and looked back at his menu. "She never cared about me," he growled.

Slowly, Lumiere built up even more courage. "Then why did she stick with you until the end of the world and then some?"

"I don't know," Spyro admitted with a growl.

"It's because she _does_ care about you," Lumiere told him, an amount of courage now flowing through him that could be mistaken for stupidity. "You just have a stick too far up your ass to admit it."

"Lumiere!" Jinx gasped in shock.

Lumiere was also surprised at what had just come out of his own mouth. He hadn't meant to say that, but the words put themselves in his mouth and spewed out with no filter.

"Spyro, I'm sorry," Lumiere apologized. "I don't know what -"

"Shut up!" Spyro snapped. "Just… just shut up!" By now Lumiere could see that Spyro was shaking in anger. "Y'know, I think I'm just gonna leave before anything happens," he announced, pushing the chair back a fair amount and storming off.

Jinx sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Way to go," she muttered.

Lumiere took a look at Cynder and saw her on the verge of tears, something Jinx also noticed.

"Hey," she said gently, "hey, do you wanna go shopping with me for a few hours? To take your mind off this?" Cynder nodded and looked at Jinx gratefully. Jinx smiled and said, "Here, I'll lead you out." She and Cynder both got out of their seats, after which Jinx put a wing over Cynder's body.

"I'll come with," Lumiere stated, almost getting up from his seat.

"No, you're staying," Jinx ordered.

"Why, 'cause I screwed this up so badly?" Lumiere sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"I didn't say that," Jinx stated.

"But it's true," Lumiere argued, looking at her with sad eyes.

Jinx shook her head. "What's going on with you today?"

Lumiere thought about it before coming up with three words. "I don't know," he said truthfully.

Jinx's gaze softened, and she said, "Well I hope you figure it out."

With that, both she and Cynder left, leaving Lumiere alone at the table until a Fire dragoness walked up to it.

"Hi, can I get you anything, sir?" she asked.

"No thanks, I was just here with some friends," Lumiere replied. "I was just leaving."

"Lumiere!"

The white male turned to where he heard the call and met eyes with Ferlost, who was walking towards his table with Winter supporting him slightly, both in an apparently good mood if their smiles were anything to go by.

They took up seats at the table without even asking, and the Fire dragoness left, chuckling to herself about kids. Lumiere sighed and asked them, "What do you want?"

Ferlost seemed a bit put off by his bad mood, but his smile never faltered. "I just wanted to say thank you for saving me from that monster. Winter here described to me what it was like, and I must say I am very thankful that you were able to rescue me."

"Yeah, no problem," Lumiere replied dismissively.

This time, Winter bothered to asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Other than the fact that I manage to screw up everything, yeah," Lumiere replied in a snippy tone. "Just peachy."

"Why do you say that?" Ferlost asked. "You obviously didn't screw up saving me."

"That's about the only thing good to come out of me," Lumiere grumbled.

"What about you and Jinx?" Winter asked. "I heard that you two are dating."

"We just hit a road bump."

"But only one of however many more will come down the line!" Winter told him encouragingly. "If you two seal yourselves as mates, then you'll have to deal with a lot more road bumps that are bigger than this one."

"How do you know that? You've never been in a relationship," Lumiere pointed out.

"Just because I've never been in a relationship doesn't mean I don't know how they work," Winter told him with a smile. "You can learn a lot from reading _if_ you bother to pick up a book."

Lumiere sighed. "A lot of good that'll do me…" he groused.

"It will!" Ferlost claimed.

Lumiere looked at him and noticed something in his eyes that he hadn't seen before. Curiosity. Not of him, but of something else.

"Why'd you really come here?" Lumiere asked. "Can't just be 'cause you wanted to say 'thanks for saving my life and all. And don't forget to read.'" He added a sarcastic note at the end.

Ferlost and Winter exchanged a look, all of their former good mood dissolving. Ferlost looked at Lumiere and said, "I had a dream."

"About what?" Lumiere asked.

Ferlost looked at Winter and asked her, "Should I tell him?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Winter encouraged.

Ferlost took a deep breath before looking back at Lumiere. "Alright, where to begin…?"

 _M_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!**


	30. Corrupted Memory

_M_

"Ferlost!"

The young dragon turned around to see one of his friends running up to him. She was a beautiful Earth dragon with dusty scales and vibrant blue eyes unlike most other Earth dragons. Her horns were shaped like a ram's and she had an icicle-like tail-blade, showing that she was also part Ice dragoness.

Ferlost smiled and greeted her with, "Phula!"

He slowly turned around to face her and laughed as she fell over while running up to him. She quickly picked herself up, though, and faced him without a hint of embarrassment on her face.

"You ready to head out?" she asked excitedly.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Ferlost replied with a smile.

They shared a laugh as a few more dragons gathered in the courtyard where they were.

"Looks like we're not the only ones," Phula remarked.

"It's an honor to run an errand like this for Elder Vatra," Ferlost pointed out.

"Not for you it isn't. She's your _mom_ ; you have to run errands like this for her all the time," Phula reminded him.

"Not all the time!" Ferlost whined defensively.

Phula giggled and said, "Uh-huh!"

Ferlost sighed and shook his head. "Ancestors, you're impossible…."

A moment of silence passed between them before Phula asked, "How's the spell holding up?"

Ferlost picked up his right forepaw from the ground and inspected it. "Old Mago's healing magic definitely worked wonders on this stupid disease. Feels good to finally be able to walk around without having to worry about falling and breaking another bone."

"I bet," Phula agreed. "But you know that it'll wear off the longer you're away from the crystal, right?"

Ferlost brushed this off with, "She'll be able to shrink that thing down in no time flat. Just you watch; by the end of the week, she'll be able to make that huge Magic crystal into a little amulet."

"How much you wanna bet?" Phula challenged with a smile.

"Ten gold," Ferlost bet, holding his paw out.

Phula smirked deviously and said shook it. "Deal."

"Attention, everyone!" a new, feminine voice called out.

Ferlost and Phula turned to the front of the courtyard where a large Fire dragoness sat on her haunches, a mighty Earth dragon behind her. She had brilliant red scales that reflected all of the remaining sunlight of the waning day, along with bright golden horns that pointed back and curved a bit up, giving her the appearance of a regular dragoness. What _wasn't_ normal about her was the fact that one of her eyes was a vivid orange, while the other was a dull white with a massive scar running across it.

"Elder Vatra…" someone whispered in awe.

Since defending the city against a horde of grublins, she became pretty much a walking legend in Warfang. Of course, she didn't escape that battle unscathed, but she might as well have since her eye was the only thing that was damaged, and what others considered a hindrance in fact made her a lot more perceptive.

Ferlost made eye contact with her as she smiled gently in his direction, which he felt comforted by despite her rugged appearance.

She looked away and towards the majority of the group, starting with a, "Greetings, Warfang."

Everyone gave a polite nod in her direction.

"Today, you have been selected to carry out an elite mission that I and the other Elders cannot perform because of our duties to the city, which you all should have read in the briefing. However, I am sending you with Zem, Guardian of Earth, my mate, to oversee you and assist you where I cannot."

Ferlost smiled even wider at this; his father was going with him.

At this, Zem stepped forward and said, "Earlier this week, we received word that an unexplainable surge of energy occured somewhere in the Ihlathi Forest. We don't know where, and we don't know why, but we hope that this expedition will help us gather information for the scientific community, as well as put our hearts at ease until something else like this comes up again."

In response to this, he got a few chuckles, as this sort of thing wasn't uncommon.

After that, Vatra dismissed everyone for the time being, requesting that everyone be there in two hours. Of course, being Ferlost, he stayed there and talked with Phula for the entire two hours, along with a few other dragons that joined and left their conversation over the course of time.

After two hours was up, Vatra walked up to him and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ferlost replied.

A couple more minutes were taken for everyone to prepare for the long flight, as the experts estimated that the surge occurred somewhere in the middle of the forest, which was over twenty miles away. Ferlost, however, was extremely jumpy and active, anxious to get a move on. After about five minutes, they finally took to the air.

 _M_

 _Ferlost…._

Ferlost snapped his eyes open at the small voice that had roused him from his nap. By now, they were practically on top of the energy source and had yet to find the center of it, but they had agreed to take a small rest, as they had been awake almost all day. Especially Ferlost; when he laid down for his nap, he was just about drained of energy. Now, though, Ferlost was wide awake and shivered from the sudden drop in temperature. He looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't find anything worth noting in the darkness of the forest around him.

 _Ferlost…._

There it was again, but louder this time. He looked around wildly for the source and contemplated waking up Zem, but then worried that his father would either overreact or call him crazy. By this point, he was wondering if he had indeed gone crazy and was hearing voices in his head.

 _Ferlost…._

Nope. Definitely real. Even worse was when he discerned that the voice was coming from right under him. He frowned and began to stand up, but almost fell back down from the weakness in his limbs.

' _Damn, it wore off,'_ he thought.

The spell Mago, a Magic wyvern, weaved had cured him of his little problem, but it was relative to how far away he was from the crystal that allowed him to heal. He still needed to give the wyvern more time so she could shrink down the crystal and allow him to carry it with him everywhere he went. Still, it didn't mean he was completely handicapped, as proven when he was able to struggle to his feet, shaking and trembling all the while.

"Is anyone there?" he asked.

Nothing. Not even the ambiance of the forest at night was heard. It was as if everything within the vicinity had died without seeming dead. Tonight, only Zella was out, casting an eerie, green glow on everything and making him more than a little paranoid.

 _Ferlost…._

He weakly clawed at the dirt and started to dig slowly but surely, trying to get to the voice, thinking it may have something to do with the energy surge. It was a hell of a task without the healing crystal close by, but he managed without it for eighteen years of his life. Surely he could dig a little hole. Hell, he came out of his egg with his forelegs and wings broken and he still dealt with life. He scooped a little dirt in his claws and threw it to the side, repeating the process a few times until he had a little hole about a foot deep. How he got this far without breaking another bone, he didn't know, but what he _did_ know was that when he went to dig out another pawful of dirt, his claws scraped against something solid. His eyes went wide, and he put pressure on it with all of his weight.

 _Ferlost…._

Bad idea.

Turns out, the structure was wood, but it had been lying there for so long that the wood was rotted and weak. So when he stepped on it with his full body weight, it gave way, and he fell about fifteen feet into a cement hole. Time slowed down for him, and it was enough for him to try and reach out to the edge of the hole. He was fortunate enough to have grabbed the ledge, but since he was falling with so much weight already, it pulled his arm out of place, and he let go, falling into the dark hole.

 _CRACK!_

"GAAAAAHHHHH!" Ferlost cried out in agony. Something in his back gave out, and he sat paralyzed and in anguish, trying to writhe in a feeble attempt to cope with the pain, but he couldn't even do that. He knew immediately that his back was broken, but had he _not_ known better, he would've thought that his body was engulfed in flames. It might as well have been; he was in so much pain, he felt as if his body was being torn apart slowly. He sobbed miserably and got his front two legs to move, allowing him to pull himself in a random direction, still whining and sobbing in agony.

 _Ferlost… come to me…._

Ferlost looked up when he heard this, now knowing that the voice was right in front of him. He was greeted to only two beady red eyes that glowed in the darkness around him. Ferlost made to get up, but cried out in pain as he shifted his back.

"Fuck…" he whispered painfully in between his shaky breaths and loud sobs. His entire lower body was on fire, burning in an agony previously unknown to him, even when he had broken bones before. But never had he broken his back. He sniffled and let out a shaky breath as he looked back up at the eyes.

 _I can make you stronger._

He shifted his lower body again, but this time he refused to cry out and give into the pain. He shifted his body again, and again, until it became clear that he was shuffling across the floor, trying to get closer to the beast. It impossible to see because of the darkness that surrounded it, but he was able to faintly make out an axe-like tail-blade.

 _Comͯ͋͝e to_ _me̡̪ͮ._

Ferlost forced himself to pick up his upper half off the ground, bracing himself on his forelegs and disturbing his most-likely shattered backbone. He whined in discomfort, but didn't do anything other than that, somehow able to bear the pain.

 _Cớ̼͖̪̀ͬ͂ͨ͆͞m̛̮̯̖̑̔̑̌̇̓̀ͩ̀͢e to̧̜̘̱̫͙̪͍͌̐ͭͦ́́̚ m̞͉̦̹̪̻̳̺̊ͪͭ͐͢e._

He fought through the fire burning in his legs, tail, and back as he forced himself up even more, bending his back more than what should've been possible with it being broken.

 _Ċ̫̥͕͓̭̒̓ͩ͆̑͒oͯ̆͏̝̖̫͍͓m̸͎͓ͤ̀̏̾̂̎e to̰̗̠̹̫̱͚͊̊̎͆͋̿̀̕͢ͅ ̡̩͉̖ͫ̊̍ͣ̆m̵̡̰̳̰̗̩̻͐̏̽̌̅ͮ̀ȩ̜̤̝̝͉͙ͨ̈̏ͧ̉͜.̨͙̤̥͎̩̭̍̍̑_

Then, just like that, the pain was gone. He furrowed his brow and looked back down on his body, only to see that some sort of black tendril was drilling into his thigh.

 _C̱͉͕̮̦ͪ̆͂̿̅o̳͓̹̼̅͘͠ḿ̧̠̣͔̪̘͍̤͛ͯ͌̑ͨ͊̿͠͠e̱͍͎͍̻͎̰̽̌ͤͫ ͤ̍́̋̉̒͏̵̟͔̬̫͟ṭ̻͍̝̫̺͍̿ͨ͌ͫ͊ͩ̈́o̴͇̳̾ͮͩͫ̓̍̐́͠ ̺̗̟̬͍̙ͪ̚͞m̵̜͖̝̮̣̥͇ͩ̌̾ͦ͂̓̚͜ẻ̮̯̯̲̬͈͋ͤ̔͑̾́͡.͑̅̋̀̚_

When he noticed it, the pain came back with a fiery vengeance, his whole body now on fire as opposed to just his lower body. Now, he was able to twist his body around and writhe in agony as the tendril went deeper into his scales and past his skin.

 _C̨̼͓̣̣̮̙̏͛̍́ͣ̈́o̧ͬ̐ͮ͂͋́͡҉͎̣̯̠̞͙m̜͓̲ė̵͚̣͙̪̰̻̽͋̽͗ͧ͞ ̦̩̹̠͎̗͈͇̰̪̙̻̩̲͇ͩ͗ͤ̑̀̓ͮ̎ͫ̊ͫ͗̿͂ͤt̸̎̈́̀͡o̙̠̲ͪͨ͆ ̼̼̘̤̺̦̙̼̰͓̙̼̤͕m͎̰̘̘͍̩̯͐́̊͋̀̊̾̃̚͞ͅͅẹ̫͇̞_

Ferlost screamed in pain as he once again arched his back at an unnatural angle, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"FUCK!"

 _C̙̳̹̱͕̻̞̭̮̦̼̞̱̩ͯ͒ͦͥ̃̓̍́ͬ̋̏́̊̏͢o̶̶̥̺̖̼͇̤̾̒̓ͣ̂͑͞m͓̯̥͙̞̥̥̘͇̳͈ͅe̹̬̮͉̱͎̲͙̙̍ͭ̑̒̋ͩ̒̄ͪ ̷̮͇̻͇̤̥̤̞̯͇̙̬̎̏̄̔̔̄ͣ͑ͦ̇̈́͛͠t̛͏̗̩̘̦͇̳̻̜̻̲̠̤͎oͦ ̵̗̘̜̩̳̳̫̫̫̳̯̱̩̠͋̈́̐ͭ͌̿̉ͭ̃̓̿ͬͣ̚͟me̴̩͍̹͇͈̞̠͔̫͖̼̠̙̰̩͘͜. C̙̳̹̱͕̻̞̭̮̦̼̞̱̩ͯ͒ͦͥ̃̓̍́ͬ̋̏́̊̏͢o̶̶̥̺̖̼͇̤̾̒̓ͣ̂͑͞m͓̯̥͙̞̥̥̘͇̳͈ͅe̹̬̮͉̱͎̲͙̙̍ͭ̑̒̋ͩ̒̄ͪ ̷̮͇̻͇̤̥̤̞̯͇̙̬̎̏̄̔̔̄ͣ͑ͦ̇̈́͛͠t̛͏̗̩̘̦͇̳̻̜̻̲̠̤͎oͦ ̵̗̘̜̩̳̳̫̫̫̳̯̱̩̠͋̈́̐ͭ͌̿̉ͭ̃̓̿ͬͣ̚͟me̴̩͍̹͇͈̞̠͔̫͖̼̠̙̰̩͘͜._

"IT HURTS! GAAHHH!" Ferlost screamed.

 _S̝̩̰̖̮̙̹̺ͅh̫̤̳̣͙h͞҉̘̤͉̬̩h̵̭̬̹̘̮͖̞͚͔̥̳́ͅͅ.̧.̤̞̪͈̩̥̙͚́͞.͇̲͈̩̣̼͕̪̤ ̶̷͖i͙̘̮̳̲̥̤͇̗t͕̗̻̺̻̳̺̹͖͙̹̘̟ͅ'ḽ̫͉̱̲͖͎̱̳̦̝̗̠̥̀͠l͟͢҉̘͈͖̻̘͔̰ͅ ̧͉̗͕͓͕̭̟͘ͅb̛̛̀e̙̭͈͙̱͍̹̱͍̠ͅ ͍͚̞͔̩̘̗̱̥̳͖͚͘a̵̢̳͔̤͡lr̛͘í̸̫͙̤̮͚̻̯͡ͅg̥͍̞̱͎͔h̕͏̷̦̙̯̜̳̯̟̩͔͓̫̪t̴̴_

Ferlost jerked his neck back and hit his head on the hard cement he had broken his back on, but the external pain was nothing compared to the head-splitting migraine he was suffering. Then, everything went black.

 _It'll be alright._

 _M_

"I think I was remembering my possession," Ferlost theorized when he finished.

Lumiere sat back in his chair with his mouth open slightly in shock. "Wow…."

"What do you make of all this?" Winter asked him.

Lumiere sighed and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

"Yes, and I already told him what I thought," Winter replied.

"What'd you say?" Lumiere questioned.

"I asked you for your thoughts first," Winter told him.

Lumiere looked at the table in thought and said, "I think that this is the Ancestors trying to tell you something."

"Like what?" Ferlost asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's something," Lumiere replied. He turned to Winter and asked, "What'd you tell him?"

"I told him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened," Winter replied. "This wasn't on him, especially since he was stuck in that situation."

Lumiere sighed again. "Well I guess this is a good time to tell you I had a dream too."

"Wait really? About what?" Winter asked.

Lumiere looked at her. "Could you leave for a second?"

"Why? Was it something bad?"

"It was a warning," was all Lumiere said before he gestured for her to leave. Ferlost made to get up as well, but Lumiere spoke up with, "No, you can stay; you're the only one I feel comfortable enough to talk with."

"Why?" Ferlost asked him. "Am I not a monster?"

"The only real monster here is Mortus," Lumiere pointed out. "It's his fault we're in this mess, and it's up to us to get ourselves out of it."

"But why me?"

"Because I heard about a little something called the Third Eye that only elemental masters such as yourself can use. Know anything about that?" Lumiere questioned, even though he already knew the answer.

Ferlost's expression turned to one of panic. He glanced around at the noisy restaurant and hissed, "Who told you about the Third Eye?"

"The Chronicler," Lumiere replied. "Actually, mentioned it is more accurate to what he did; I woke up before I could question him."

"The Chronicler?" Ferlost asked skeptically. "Isn't he a myth?"

Lumiere shook his head and pressed his lips. "Nope. Otherwise where would I have learned to do this?"

Lumiere held his hand out for Ferlost to see and let some of his mana flow into his palm. Much to Ferlost's poorly hid surprise, it started to faintly glow white.

"The Light…" Ferlost whispered. He looked at Lumiere and asked, "How…?"

"I'm not exactly a regular dragon; I'm what's called a Celestial dragon," Lumiere explained.

"Celestial dragon…?" Ferlost whispered. "But I thought the last one was Milenius."

"Guess not," Lumiere said. "What still needs explaining is where Kirk came from."

"We can always ask him," Ferlost pointed out. "What _I_ need explained is the fact that the Chronicler is real."

Lumiere shrugged. "He's an agent of the Ancestors, so I guess the role's been around since the beginning. I'm not the only one to be contacted by the Chronicler in the past decade, though; Spyro claims to have actually _been_ to the White Isle."

"Spyro?" Ferlost questioned.

"The other purple dragon," Lumiere elaborated.

Ferlost looked down at the table. "So he _wasn't_ using the Chameleon Effect…"

"I don't know anything about that, but I'm pretty sure if Winter or Voltia were here, they'd say that it hasn't been used in a very, _very_ long time."

"But if this is three hundred years later like you say, then he shouldn't be born," Ferlost said.

Lumiere furrowed his brow in confusion and asked, "How do you figure?"

"It's been only three generations since I was born, each generation being one hundred years. Spyro should've been born _ten_ generations after I was, which would be a _thousand years_. The Ancestors made it that way so that only one purple dragon could be in the Dragon Realms at a time, so then how was Spyro born?"

"Maybe Fate's trying to play a cruel game with us and gave us just enough card to win, so to speak, but unless we know how to use them, we'll lose," Lumiere figured. "It's like a game of chess; first, you strategically place your pieces across the board, maybe take a couple out, then when you see your opponent blunder, you strike."

"What's Mortus' blunder?" Ferlost asked.

Lumiere sighed again. "That's just it; we don't know."

Silence fell over them for a few seconds, which they used to gather and arrange their thoughts in regard to the situation currently at hand.

After that, Ferlost asked, "So we have two purple dragons and a Celestial dragon against an ancient entity hellbent on the destruction of our world, plus however many more are behind him?"

"Two Celestial dragons, actually," Lumiere corrected. "Kirk, the one who told you about your… condition, is also like me."

"Even still, we're at a disadvantage," Ferlost said, his demeanor changing in an instant. "We don't know how much force the Dark Master has behind him, and we sure as _hell_ don't know what either of our plans our, and I think he knows that. He's got a plan, a well-developed plan, and what do we have? A couple rooks and some pawns."

"Not necessarily; if we manage to plan ourselves, then we have a possibility of winning," Lumiere proposed.

"Be that as it may, we have no clue what Mortus is up to, and without knowing that, how could we ever hope to plan a defense or even a counterattack?"

Lumiere sighed. "Look, I don't have all the answers. Meet me at the front of the Temple at 11:00 tonight. Hopefully, by then, I'll have my thoughts gathered further, and I can try to figure out what Mortus did wrong."

" _If_ he did anything wrong…" Ferlost grumbled.

"With all his planning, he _had_ to have overlooked _something_ ," Lumiere said, "and I intend to find out what that is."

Ferlost nodded. "11:00 it is," he said grimly.

Lumiere nodded back as Ferlost attempted to get up from his chair by himself, but almost fell when he did so. Lumiere's expression changed to concern. "You need help?"

"I… I do," Ferlost admitted.

Lumiere nodded and got up from his chair, padding over to Ferlost and helping his new friend out of the chair by supporting his weight as he stepped down slowly to ensure he wouldn't break anything. After this, he helped the purple dragon out of the restaurant, where Winter stood waiting by the door.

"What're you waiting for?" Lumiere asked.

"Him," she replied, gesturing to Ferlost.

Lumiere raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I have a test to study for," Winter replied, "and he's helping me."

"Why aren't you in school then?" Lumiere asked. "Wait, no, nevermind… why isn't _anyone_ in school?"

He now took note of the many kids walking the streets of Warfang alone, in small groups, or with their parents.

"Delayed start," Winter replied. "We start in a half hour."

"Why the delayed start?" Lumiere asked her.

"Because of you and your friends coming out of the Catacombs," Winter explained. "The school gave us until midday to get in and get to class, so I took as much time as I could with him to prepare for my test."

"Alright, so do _we_ have to go to school?" Lumiere asked, referring to himself and his friends.

"Yeah."

Lumiere huffed. "Great…" he muttered.

 _M_


	31. Back To School

_M_

A half hour later saw Lumiere walking throughout the halls of the Temple with his satchel slung across his side. He noticed others giving him weird looks, but he didn't care; all he was focused on was getting to class on time. He stopped at the doorway of Iciclis' classroom and took a deep breath, knowing both Jinx and Cynder would be in there waiting for him, along with Vyra.

"Alright, Lumi…" he said to himself, "you can do this. It's not like fighting a Mimic…."

He took another deep breath and entered the classroom, only for the whole place to go quiet the moment his forepaws touched the inside. He cursed under his breath and padded awkwardly to his seat. To his surprise, neither Jinx nor Cynder were there, so both seats on either side of him were empty. He looked back and locked eyes with Vyra, who was looking at him with pity, but gave him a reassuring smile. Lumiere allowed a ghost of a smile to appear on his face before turning away. Then, in an instant, both seats beside him were taken by their respective owners, making Lumiere's body go rigid.

Jinx and Cynder were both panting hard, as if they were running to get to class on time which, by the way neither of them had gotten rid of their shopping bags, was most likely the case. He looked to the front of the room and noticed that Iciclis hadn't graced them with his presence yet, even as the bell rang. Lumiere's pulse quickened in an instant, knowing that there was little chance of not making this awkward for both himself and the two females sitting on either side of him.

"Hey, guys…" he whispered.

Jinx leaned back in her seat. "Hey, Lumi."

Cynder just nodded a greeting.

Lumiere tapped one of his claws on the desk stiffly, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was still staring at him.

Jinx growled next to him. "What're you all looking at?" she snarled.

In an instant, everything went back to normal; kids around them went back to their usual conversations, and Iciclis entered the room at that moment.

Lumiere looked gratefully at Jinx and muttered, "Thanks."

"It's cool," Jinx replied, not even bothering to look at him.

Lumiere stole a glance at her and could tell that she was awkward around him as well. He lowered his head and quietly growled in apology, but not loud enough so that she heard it, knowing it would probably make things weirder between them. He then focused on the front of the classroom as Iciclis began his lesson.

The class period seemed to blur together, and it was over just as soon as it began. Iciclis looked at Lumiere sadly, but the white male ignored it and just got up to leave as soon as the bell rang since he had already completed his homework and got packed up, leaving Jinx and Cynder to do the same, neither of them lifting their heads to watch him go off. Lumiere adopted a brisk pace and made it to Lavar's class a lot earlier than he had been making it for the past month, since he and Jinx always talked in the halls. Without that distraction though, he made it with about three minutes to spare, and quickly took his seat, not even bothering to notice how everyone again quieted down with his presence. He just sighed as they all stared at him, some of them being his podmates, who he didn't really talk to anyways.

' _Let them think what they think,'_ he thought with conviction. ' _They see me as a freak? Who am I to change their minds?'_

It took Flame another minute to show up, but once he did, he only took his seat and took out his math notebook from his satchel. Lumiere looked at him for a few seconds with a guilty expression before he followed suit, just as Jinx walked in. He looked up at the board and saw a bellringer written on it, which he solved in only half a minute. By then, Lavar had walked in, humming a tune to himself as he took a seat at his desk and began writing some things down, most likely attendance.

Again, the class passed by like a blur, and Lumiere and Jinx parted ways without a single word of greeting or goodbye. Next class, however, would be even more awkward, because he shared El. Prop. with Spyro, who he'd managed to greatly piss off. He took his time walking to that class. To his surprise, the classroom was already silent when he walked in, but when he saw who they were staring at, his stomach dropped and his heart leapt up into his throat, and not because he was love-struck.

Spyro was near the back of the classroom not paying attention to anyone, opting to just stay silent and stare out the window that was next to his desk, which was in the second-to-last column and the last row. Lumiere could tell the purple dragon was still angry, if the still-present fire in his eyes was anything to go by. And unfortunately for Lumiere, he had to sit next to the fuming male.

He knew sitting next to Spyro would come back to bite him in the ass, but not quite like this.

Lumiere took a deep breath and padded over to his seat, which was to the left of Spyro's. He didn't even bother trying to greet him, since he knew his words would either fall on deaf ears or would provoke some kind of hostile response. A few seconds later, the bell rang, and it officially began the longest period of the day for Lumiere. He knew that Spyro kept stealing glances at him; he could see it out of the corner of his eye. He said nothing, though, as he knew it would make things awkward or provoke Spyro, if unintentionally. What sucked even more was that he had next class period with Spyro as well. He knew that period would be just as long as this one.

He didn't even pay attention to Crayg's lessons; he just kind of stared at his desk with a guilty look, knowing it was his fault that Spyro was acting the way he was. He knew he would have to confront him eventually, but now was _definitely_ not the time to do so; he needed to let Spyro cool off a bit before approaching him so that things could hopefully go the way he wanted them to. Of course, he knew that Spyro would have to patch up his relationship with Cynder so that he could calm down; only then would Lumiere even dare to approach him.

He sat there in silent agony as Crayg taught things as if nothing were amiss, yet that couldn't have been any less true. At one point, Lumiere accidentally let out a small whimper of discomfort, but thankfully no one noticed. At least… he _thought_ no one noticed. In reality, Spyro had heard the quiet noise and immediately felt bad for making his friend fear having to face him, even if it was just a smidge of awkwardness. After a few more minutes of teaching, Crayg gave them a group assignment, which Lumiere normally would've worked on with Spyro eagerly, but their earlier altercation affected Lumiere's ability to even glance in the direction of his purple friend, if he could even call Spyro that anymore after what he did.

It seemed to take forever for the bell to ring, but when it did, Lumiere wasted no time exiting the room, all but leaving Spyro behind. In response, Spyro sighed and gathered his things slowly, the anger dimming down and being replaced by shame for what he'd done. Maybe if he had taken the time to meditate that morning, he wouldn't have been so angry, but he was so focused on what Cynder had done the night before, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

Meanwhile, Lumiere weaved in between dragons of all grade levels to get to his next class, which was all the way at the other end of the school. Not only would he have to face Spyro in that class, but now Cyclone would be there too. He would ask questions as to what was going on between him and Spyro, and blame him for provoking the purple male, since he would undoubtedly defend Spyro instead of him since he had known Spyro for longer.

Thankfully, he caught a bit of a break when he entered the classroom, noticing how no one turned to stare at him for longer than a second, immediately going back to whatever they were doing before. That was the one good thing about Entros; her class was easy enough for him to get by, but pretty hard for everyone else, so they were probably all working on some kind of group assignment like they'd been doing for a couple weeks. Unfortunately for him, Entros' class was also arranged in pods, and Spyro, Cyclone, and he all sat at one pod along with some other kid.

Spyro and Cyclone entered the room as soon as the bell rang, though neither of them seemed to be in a hurry to head over to Lumiere, both of them dragging their paws on the ground as if they were trying to stall. Lumiere noticed, but again said nothing as Entros walked in and immediately began the lesson.

By then, both Spyro and Cyclone had gotten to their seats and opened their satchels, grabbing their literature books and setting them on the desk in front of them as Lumiere did the same, only with more sluggish movements.

"Lumiere," Entros called.

Lumiere looked up at his teacher.

"Why don't you read for us the second paragraph of Chapter 5 in _The Necklace_?" she asked.

Lumiere nodded and flipped to the page she was talking about, since he read it ahead of time. Instead of reading in a loud, clear voice like he always did, however, his voice was quiet and barely audible. It was only a couple short sentences, but it was still enough for him to feel nervous, remembering the unusual amount of attention he received the last three class periods, and wondering if the kids in this period would stare at him the same way. When he finished reading, he sighed and leaned back in his seat, not noticing how his friends gave him concerned looks from across the pod, which would've been strange to him, seeing as how he managed to piss one off and make the other wary of him. However, he was too downcast to even notice their looks of worry, so he didn't question it.

The fourth period bell couldn't have rung sooner, and right when it did, Lumiere grabbed his satchel and quickly walked out of the room, ignoring Spyro's calls of protest. He just walked on, trying to find something to take his mind off of what had happened as of late while he briskly padded to the mess hall.

He tried to make his entrance into the lunch room as low-key as possible, and he got as far as his table before someone noticed him. Unfortunately for him, it was someone who he probably managed to piss of that morning.

"Lumi," came Jinx's voice from behind him as he sat down in his regular booth.

He sighed and closed his eyes as he felt her slide into the space across from him. He opened his eyes to see her looking at him with a concerned expression, just like everyone else that day. He pressed his lips together before asking, "What's up?"

Jinx averted her gaze and mumbled, "Nothing… what about you?"

"Nothing," he muttered, looking away as well. He noticed how many were now looking at him weirdly, and that everyone was now whispering to each other. "What's with them?" he asked Jinx.

She looked at him and shook her head. Mentally, she told him, ' _They're weirded out by you 'cause you went through the Dark Catacombs, then came back, went in_ again _, and came back with two new dragons, one of which used to be Malefor, and a wyvern, which were thought to be extinct. And it's not just you they're anxious around; I've been getting weird looks all morning too, and so has Vyra.'_

' _Fair enough,'_ Lumiere said. He sighed and said outwardly, "How are you?"

Jinx looked away. "I'm fine… I guess…"

"You sure?" he asked her.

She nodded as conversation around them picked up again, continuing as normal, though dragons occasionally stole glances at them. "Yeah."

He sighed and nodded as he made to get up so he could get some food when a sudden question from Jinx stopped him.

"Do you still love me?"

He snapped his head in her direction. "What?"

Jinx chuckled hollowly. "Nevermind… that was a stupid question… Just forget I asked…"

Lumiere sat back down and scrutinized her, studying her past her beauty for the first time in a long time, and saw that she was not only awkward, but guilty. Why would she be guilty, though? Was it because of earlier, when he messed everything up with Spyro? Was she guilty because she pretty much just left him sitting there, clearly guilty himself? He knew things wouldn't be the same between them for a bit, but despite this, he reached under the table with his tail and found her own, wrapping it around hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She jumped at this, but when she looked at Lumiere, he looked at her with a solemn expression.

"Of course I still love you," Lumiere said. "I'll always love you, no matter what you do to me or anyone else."

Jinx looked away with her expression still bearing remorse, yet she still gave his tail a gentle squeeze in response to his. "I love you too… always will," she said with a slight smile.

Lumiere smiled in return, though it was quickly wiped away when Spyro and Cyclone came up to the table, at which point Lumiere let go of Jinx's tail.

He prepared himself for a fight of some kind, be it physical or verbal, when Spyro asked, "Mind if we take a seat?"

Lumiere raised an eyebrow, but Jinx answered for him. "Go ahead," she said, scooting over herself.

Lumiere readied a witty retort, but thought better against it, especially since Spyro had asked without any kind of anger is his voice, though whether that was because the purple dragon was trying to be diplomatic or had actually forgiven him was debatable at best. Nevertheless, he found himself scooting over as well, allowing for Spyro to slide next to him as Cyclone sat next to Jinx.

"What's this about?" Lumiere blurted.

Jinx gave him a warning look, but Spyro answered with no animosity in his voice whatsoever. "We just wanted to talk with you and make sure everything was going alright," he said.

Lumiere sighed and nodded, looking to Cyclone. "I'm guessing you're with him?"

Cyclone nodded a confirmation and said, "Yeah. I mean… sure, you dragged us through hell and back, but that wasn't exactly your conscious decision."

Lumiere nodded again at Cyclone's words, mentally noting how the Wind dragon had said 'wasn't _exactly_ ' and ' _conscious_ decision,' which showed that the gray male hadn't fully forgiven him just yet.

Still, it showed that they were working on things, and that was good, so he said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're sure?" Spyro asked, uncertain.

Lumiere smiled lightly and nodded. "I'm fine."

Spyro didn't look convinced, but he thankfully let it drop and turned to Jinx. "What about you and Vyra?"

"We're not exactly fans of being the center of attention, but we're dealing with it," she replied. She pressed her lips together before asking, "What about everyone else?"

"Well," Spyro began, "Flame and Ember are getting overprotective of each other and growling at pretty much whoever looks their way with the wrong look, Voltia seems alright, Toxia isn't really showing emotion, and Winter has her head in the clouds for some reason."

"What about Incindia?" Jinx asked in an oddly protective manner.

Spyro seemed taken aback by this, as did Cyclone. Lumiere only smiled wider at this, knowing her reasons; Incindia was just a kid, and Jinx's motherly instincts as a female were taking over. Through his shock, Spyro answered with, "She's still with Pyra, I think. Why?"

"Just asking," Jinx shrugged.

Lumiere was about to ask about Cynder, but bit his tongue at the last second, remembering what had happened earlier. However, there was still _something_ that could be said in regards to what happened in the restaurant.

"I'm sorry."

The three others turned to him as he said this. "About what?" Spyro asked.

"I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me at the restaurant, and I'm sorry for that, Spyro," Lumiere apologized in a quiet voice before looking to Cyclone. "And I'm sorry for dragging you, Toxia, Flame, Ember… I'm sorry for dragging everyone into this."

"Hey, there's nothing you could've done about it, man," Cyclone assured the white dragon.

"And I forgave you anyways," Spyro added, "because… you were right."

Lumiere furrowed his brow in confusion, as did Jinx. The white and crimson dragons exchanged a glance before turning back to Spyro, who the focus was now on.

"I… I wasn't able to see… what Malefor did to Cynder is inexcusable, and I have to understand that even though Ferlost isn't Malefor, she still sees a little bit of the Dark Master in him, and always will," Spyro explained. "I shouldn't have forced her to accept him so soon."

"Do you feel like explaining what happened?" Lumiere asked.

Spyro shook his head. "No, but I _will_ say that I won't force her to do something she doesn't want to ever again."

Lumiere nodded understandingly.

"Why don't you talk to her and apologize?" Jinx asked.

Spyro breathed out a laugh, though a hollow one at that. "It's not that simple. I… I think she's scared of me now…"

Lumiere felt bad for the purple dragon, noticing how much more downcast he became at that statement, even if it was just a thought. Still, Cynder's body language earlier showed that she was what Spyro said she was, and that made Lumiere all the more curious, as it wasn't like Cynder to get scared, least of all by Spyro, probably the _least_ scary of their whole group besides Incindia now. But it wasn't his place to pry into their business, so he held his tongue and sat straighter.

"Let it rest for a few days, then, and see if she's comfortable around you then," Lumiere suggested.

"You don't understand," Cyclone interjected. "She avoids him at all costs; earlier today, outside of reading class, she was talking to me, but when Spyro walked up, she cut herself off, stared at him for a few seconds, and then just left. It isn't like her to walk away from people she's in the middle of talking to, but it _is_ like her to avoid what makes her uncomfortable, and if Spyro made her uncomfortable around him… it might take days, it might take weeks; who knows with her?"

"Remember when you guys were helping Lumiere plan his date out before he… well, that's not important," Jinx said. "What _is_ important is that you guys are the best at convenient timing, and if we can get Spyro and Cynder alone together for just a minute, it would give Spyro a chance to apologize."

"Easy," Cyclone insisted. "I can catch her outside eighth period, and Spyro's got Study Hall that period, so it shouldn't be a problem to hold her up with conversation for a few minutes while someone gets Spyro next to her unnoticed."

"I'll do it; I can sneak around pretty well, even with someone like Spyro," Jinx spoke up.

"What should I do?" Lumiere asked, eager to redeem himself to his friends.

Cyclone looked to Jinx, who looked to Spyro, who looked at Cyclone. Then, Jinx said, "Uh… I think it'd be best if you just… went home after eighth hour."

Lumiere's shoulders sagged at that, but not noticeably so, and he said, "Alright." He didn't think the disappointment could be heard in his voice, but at the same time he kinda _wanted_ it to be heard for some reason.

They didn't seem to hear it, though he couldn't tell if he was fortunate or unfortunate for that, but he just sat quietly while the other three worked on their plan to get Spyro to apologize to Cynder, changing the time from eighth period to seven o'clock, since Jinx promised to take Cynder shopping some more at that time. Eventually, after five minutes, Lumiere decided he needed some fresh air and tapped Cyclone's shoulder.

"Hey, can I get out?"

"Where're you headed?" Cyclone asked.

"Just outside for a couple minutes," Lumiere said.

Cyclone looked to Jinx, who shrugged and said, "I'm not telling him what to do; I don't control him." She looked at him and said, "But could you come back before the lunch period ends?"

Lumiere nodded. "We'll see."

Cyclone let him out with that, and he was able to slide out of the booth and go walking, though the circumstances were a lot different than last time he went for a walk alone, which was on the first day of school. He tried to keep his head up high or at least at a normal level, but every time he lifted it up, he could feel it drooping down again, so he just gave up and walked through the halls and out of the school with his eyes glued to the ground. Unconsciously, he once again wandered to the railing where he had first seen the beautiful city of Warfang, where he and Vyra had made up, and where he often came to clear his mind. He sat down on his haunches with a sigh, his whole demeanor downcast. He looked over the gleaming city of Warfang and wondered how such a vast city survived for so long through so many wars and phases, and yet remained a hub for civilization, one of the most economically stable environments on this side of the planet as he had heard from Crayg, the most patriotic citizen Warfang he'd met so far. He admired how the roofs of the inner city gleaned from the lustrous tiles placed on them, and how busy the city was as a whole, even when the kids were still in school; shops bustled, people roamed the streets, and even without being down there, he could practically hear the noise of the crowd on the streets. It was magnificent.

He blinked once, and he lowered his gaze to the cement on which he sat, feeling so… little in a world as big as his; even in Warfang, his name would be irrelevant, as it was such a big city filled with so many people of all different races. For once in his life, he felt small, yet it wasn't the first time he'd felt insignificant.

"Lumi?"

 _M_


	32. Picking a Fight (Important Announcement)

**Hey, what's up? So... I haven't been active with this story much, and that's mostly because I haven't been very motivated to finish this story like I was when the very first ideas popped up. Unfortunately, because of this fact, I'm being forced to cancel this story until further notice. I apologize to those of you that have stuck along with this story** **since** **the first chapter was uploaded, through the horrible plot in the beginning, and up to this point. I want to give a very special thank you to SKdaGamer for helping out a bunch with the plot; without him, this story wouldn't have been half as good as it is now, so thanks a ton, man. I also want to give a huge thanks to Autcon for sticking with this story since the very beginning, and for requesting the songfic "Right Here," because if you hadn't, we'd have never met. And I also want to thank you, the viewer, for taking time out of your day to read this story, because it means a lot to me as an author that people enjoy my work. So, without further ado, here is the last stretch of writing that is my biggest project to date, "Tales to Astonish." Again, thank you to all of those that have stuck this far with me, and have a good day/night.**

 _M_

"Lumi?"

Lumiere perked up when he heard his name being called, his thoughts shifting from those of depression to curiosity, wondering who else would be over where he was. He turned around and was greeted by Cynder, her eyes reflecting a timidness that seemed unnatural in them.

"What're you doing over here, Cynder?" he asked her.

She shrugged and walked over to him, though he could tell she was very tense. She sat down to the left of him, mirroring his position almost exactly, though her tail curled around her front legs so that her tail-blade sat across her right side.

"So… what's up?" she asked with an edge of nervousness in her voice.

Lumiere looked back over Warfang. "Nothing," he replied. "You?"

"Same here…" she said simply, seeming to loosen up a little as the seconds passed.

For a full two minutes, the two sat there quietly, looking over the city of Warfang, neither of them wanting to break the admittedly blissful yet awkward silence. Of course, though, there were things that they wanted to ask each other, though Cynder was the first to voice her question.

"Is… is everything alright between you and Jinx?"

Lumiere nodded and said, "Yeah… we made up just today."

"That's good," Cynder commented, nodding as well.

Lumiere looked at her and asked, "Have you talked to Spyro at all today?"

He already knew the answer, but he wanted to see if she would tell him the truth or lie, and her answer would determine just how much her relationship with Spyro was threatened.

Cynder sighed. "No… I didn't speak to him today."

Lumiere nodded and internally let out a sigh of relief. She still trusted him enough to tell him the truth. He looked back over Warfang and said, "I think you should; there's something he want to tell you."

"What, that he hates me now?" Cynder huffed dejectedly.

Lumiere looked back over to her and saw a stray tear making its way down her cheek. When he saw this, he suddenly felt the need to comfort her, though not in the way he would comfort Jinx. Jinx was different; she was his girlfriend, and he could comfort her certain ways. Cynder, however, was his friend and, in his opinion, the one he could connect the most with besides Jinx, so he had to comfort her in different ways.

He shook his head and said, "I won't tell you what he has to say, but I think that you should give him a chance to tell you himself."

"What's the point? He's just gonna yell and scream like I did last night…" she said.

Lumiere looked at her and suddenly felt determination flowing through him. "Look, I'm not gonna tell you what to believe; who am I to change your mind from anything? What I _am_ gonna tell you, though, is that you should still give him a chance so that you know, and you're not just left wondering."

Cynder shook her head, more tears coming to her eyes. She sniffled once and said, "I'm not ready to face him yet."

Lumiere sighed, but said, "Alright. I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Cynder looked it him gratefully with glossy eyes, a few more tears making their way down her cheeks. "Thanks," was all she said.

Lumiere smiled and said, "No problem." He almost told her about Jinx's plan to get her and Spyro alone, but he figured she could find a way out of it if she really did want to avoid Spyro. Besides, he didn't want a repeat of that morning so soon after just making up with her. He placed his wing over her back in a friendly gesture of comfort, which she thankfully didn't shrug off, and he was even more relieved to see a smile appear on her face through the tears.

"Thanks," she repeated. She sniffled again and looked back over Warfang as Lumiere removed his wing from her back, her light tears coming to a stop.

"You okay now?" he asked concernedly.

Cynder nodded slowly. "Yeah… I'm alright."

Lumiere nodded as well as he allowed a smile to grace his features. He stood up, and Cynder followed his example, both of them now smiling.

"You wanna head back inside?" Lumiere asked her.

"Yeah, sure," Cynder replied.

Both of them allowed their smiles to widen, and with that, they walked back down the path to get inside, since it was still early in the lunch period. They went undisturbed for the majority, but when they came to the front of the school, they were met with a pretty big crowd of dragons blocking the way to the entrance. Carefully and deliberately, they made their way through the crowd, but as they went on, they realized that the crowd was getting easier and easier to move through, but it was only when they were right in front of the entrance that they realized the reason _why_ the group of dragons was getting easier to move through; the crowd was getting thinner. Lumiere was confused by this at first, but soon realized the reason why, which was the same as everyone else's, and why they were found out. Lumiere had the lightest scales in the academy, and Cynder was practically a celebrity since she and Spyro saved the world. Lumiere cursed under his breath and simply walked through the door, trying to ignore everyone's piercing gazes on his and Cynder's backs. When he was through, he and Cynder noticed how the halls were completely empty, despite the fact that neither of them had been outside for long.

When they got to the lunchroom, Cynder turned to him and said, "I'm gonna go sit by Ember and Flame."

Lumiere nodded. "You do that, then. Seeya."

"Seeya."

With that, they went their separate ways, Cynder to where she said and Lumiere back to his own table, where Jinx, Spyro, and Cyclone were still talking. They noticed him approaching, and they all turned their attention to him immediately.

"Hey, how was your walk?" Jinx asked.

Lumiere nodded. "It was good," he replied. He picked up his satchel, which was leaning on the booth seat, and said, "I think I'm gonna start heading to class."

Jinx looked disappointed. "Oh… okay, then. See you in Study Hall then?" she asked with a bit of hopefulness creeping into her voice near the end.

Lumiere chuckled, adding enough feeling so that his friends didn't question him, and said, "Yeah, see you in Study Hall."

Lumiere began to walk away, but Jinx called out, "Lumi, wait!" The white male stopped in his tracks and turned around, seeing Jinx's slightly pleading eyes. "D-do you wanna head to your place after school today…?"

If he was being honest, the first thing he wanted to say was 'no,' but at seeing how much her eyes betrayed her desperation to spend time with him, he smiled and said, "Sure, but you might not have much to do; I gotta catch up on a lot of homework."

"Oh… alright," Jinx said, clearly trying to hide the dejection in her voice, but either she was worse at hiding it than she realized, or Lumiere was getting more in touch with the Fear in him because of how much he and Jinx used their mental link that only Fear dragons could use. He gave her one last reassuring smile before walking out of the lunchroom.

"Hey, would ya look at this, guys! The loser's back in town!" someone shouted from across the lunchroom. Lumiere stiffened as he recognized the voice.

"Icarus," he muttered in annoyance.

The stupid Ice dragon was about the last thing he wanted to deal with right now, but it looked as if Fate liked to torment him, because as soon as he turned around, he was practically snout-to-snout with the blue male, who was standing there with a proud smirk.

"Whatcha doing back, loser?" Icarus demanded in a taunting voice.

"Leave him alone, Icarus!" Jinx shouted.

"He can defend himself, can't he?" Icarus shot back, looking at her before looking Lumiere dead in the eyes and said, "Or did his balls drop off?"

Lumiere growled and bared his teeth, but turned his back and walked away. The bully wasn't worth his time.

"Where're you going?" Icarus asked.

Lumiere didn't respond and only walked out of the lunchroom.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, whitey!"

It wasn't the first time Icarus had used that nickname, so Lumiere was able to walk away from that one quite easily.

"You think you're so high and mighty 'cause your mom's the Lead Guardian?!"

Lumiere had heard that one too.

"No, not even; she isn't even your real mom! Your real mom abandoned you! And so did your real dad! Either that or they're both dead!" Icarus shouted.

Lumiere stopped dead in his tracks. Never before had Icarus stooped as low as to make fun of the fact that he was an orphan, possibly of war. But Icarus didn't stop there.

"And you saved the one who possibly killed them?! That's right! I know you brought back Malefor from that damned maze, you fucking traitor! And that other white, feather-brained dragon?! He kidnapped your friends and little _girlfriend_ , and probably even _fucked_ all the females!"

That one cut deep. Icarus knew a lot more than he let on. Enough to hurt him. He was right; Ferlost wasn't the one that nearly destroyed the world, but he might as well have. He knew Kirk would never go as far as to mate with any female other than Dika, who was the reason he kidnapped his friends in the first place; to save her. But still, he wasn't down there with them, and he didn't know what Kirk did to them. It was really, really, _really_ hard to walk away from that one; his teeth were clenched so tight, he was surprised none of them broke, he was growling ferally and shaking in pure anger. But despite the immense rage he was feeling, he managed to remember the fact that by walking away, he was basically saying Icarus wasn't worth his time, so, even if was one of the hardest things he's had to do in his life, he continued to walk, even though he heard Icarus shouting more insults after him, some of which only bounced off his scales, though the rest pretty much rubbed salt in his wounds.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" someone yelled.

Lumiere turned around to see Vyra charging at Icarus, though the Ice dragon was too shocked to do anything about it, so he was brought down by Vyra, who tackled him from the left. By then, Icarus regained his composure and tried to kick her off, but Vyra was deceivingly strong and was able to hold on. They were rolling on the ground for a bit before Lumiere overcame his shock and rushed forward, determined to defend his sister. Before he could, however, he was stopped by a powerful, booming voice.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Vyra and Icarus separated immediately, though they never took their eyes off each other. They were still both snarling at each other and breathing heavily, Icarus' breath misting and Vyra's Lightning escaping her maw in small amounts. Lumiere looked to where the voice came from and saw both Terrador and Pyra rushing towards the two. Pyra ushered Vyra away, growling at Icarus as Terrador did the same for Ice dragon, giving Vyra a disappointed glance. Lumiere sighed and ran to catch up with Pyra, leaving the lunchroom behind as the other students reluctantly went about their business.

"What was that, Vyra?!" Pyra scolded when they were out of the lunchroom and heading down an empty hall.

"He started it!" Vyra defended. "He was spitting insults at Lumi!"

Pyra glanced back as Lumiere finally caught up to them. They all stopped in their tracks at that moment, and Pyra asked, "Is this true?"

Lumiere nodded. "Yeah."

"Is this the first time it's happened?" Pyra questioned.

"No," Lumiere answered, shaking his head.

Pyra turned around fully and lowered her head to his level. "Why didn't you tell me this was happening?"

Lumiere averted his gaze shamefully and said, "I didn't want you to worry about me."

"Lumiere, I may not be your real mother, but I still love you and care about you; it's my job to worry about you," Pyra said. She turned to Vyra, who also cast her gaze downwards, and said, "Both of you."

Everything was silent for a moment as Pyra looked back to Lumiere, who shuffled his paws and growled a quiet apology, as did Vyra.

Pyra sighed and said, "I think you should both go home." She looked at Vyra and added, "And of course, we need to deal with your actions later."

"I… I understand…" Vyra said quietly.

Lumiere looked to her in sympathy before Pyra turned to him and said, "You'll need to be there as well, young one, since it was you the… altercation was about."

Lumiere nodded and said, "Alright."

Pyra sighed and said, "I really should be getting back to the Visions Room. You two go home." She let a smile creep onto her face and said, "Maybe we can go out for dinner tonight to lift the mood."

The two kids perked up at that, looking at Pyra with surprise in their eyes, not expecting something like that to come from Pyra, especially after what just happened. But when Pyra walked away, chuckling to herself, they knew it was real, and they turned to each other with smiles of disbelief on their faces.

"Did that just happen?" Vyra asked.

Lumiere breathed out a laughed. "Yeah… yeah, I think it did," he replied. They stood there for a few seconds in stunned silence before he broke it with, "Let's get outta here."

"Race you to the house?" Vyra challenged with a grin.

"What's the point? You know I'll win anyways," Lumiere shot back.

Vyra laughed. "Oh, you're on."

Lumiere laughed and ran down the hall with Vyra following closely.

 _M_


	33. The Grublins Return

_M_

"GRUBLINS!"

The sudden cry came as a big surprise to both Lumiere and Vyra, who were in the living room enjoying a good read until their mother got home. They jumped up at it as the sound of armor clanking outside their door caught their attention. They exchanged a look, closed their respective books, and got up, walking over to the door tentatively. When they opened it, they were greeted to the Warfang Regime marching down the street, along with Pyra and Bane, who looked like they were arguing with each other. Volteer, Volta, and Terrador were farther down the street, and Kirk even farther. Neither Cyril nor Dika were anywhere to be seen.

When Pyra saw them, she ran over and cried, "Inside, younglings!"

"What's going on?" Lumiere asked.

"It's dangerous out here!" Pyra said, brushing off Lumiere's question and ushering them inside.

"Mom, what's going on?" Vyra asked firmly as the door closed, all three of them now inside. Pyra still didn't answer and instead walked past them and into the living room. "Mom!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes?" Pyra questioned a little too cheerily.

"What's going on?" Vyra questioned again.

Pyra sighed and said, "Nothing of your concern, Vyra; everything is under control and shall be dealt with shortly."

"We heard the cry," Lumiere blurted out.

Vyra gave him the death glare, which Lumiere shrank under, before turning back to Pyra and continuing with, "Yeah, we heard what the guy said; what are grublins doing back in Warfang?"

Pyra huffed and said, "I suppose… Well, we don't know what they're doing back here, but what we _do_ know is that they are no longer being controlled by an external power; in a sense, they have free will. Unfortunately for us, they are exerting that free will in a way that makes it seem like they are avenging the Dark Master's fall, for they have nothing to live for other than to serve him."

Lumiere had heard of grublins before; he read about them in school, heard about them in books, and even Spyro told him stories about the wretched stone creatures, and from what all of them say, their attacks are vicious and scary because of their sheer numbers and their apparent inability to feel pain, regret, or mercy. But never before had he actually been a part of a siege, especially as a victim. Then again, he wasn't exactly a soldier either.

"So what do we do?" Lumiere asked. "Just sit around?"

"Their numbers are small, nothing the Regime can't handle," Pyra assured him.

For some reason, Lumiere had his doubts about that; maybe it was how frantic the cry was, Pyra's nervous body language, or the fact that she was arguing with Bane, the Captain of the Regime, just moments ago. Whatever it was, he couldn't help but share her concern, and a brief glance at Vyra told him that she was thinking the same way. Still, this was their mother, and while she wasn't Lumiere's actual mother, she was as close as it got, so the two turned to head up to their rooms and occupy their times with something else.

Then, all of a sudden, the front door to their house burst open, startling all of them, and Bane barged in saying, "They're closing in! Get ready for battle, Pyra! He then turned to Lumiere and Vyra and said, "Get somewhere safe, both of you."

"But we want to help!" Vyra argued once again.

Bane looked hesitant, but Pyra sighed and said, "Alright, I will allow you to go up to the wall, but no further."

Bane looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he kept quiet and straightened his posture to look more military-like, even though he already looked that way with the armor and the hard expression he wore. Lumiere and Vyra nodded and stood still while Pyra rushed off to her room. In only a few minutes, she emerged decked out in golden armor with the symbol of Fire embossed into the chestplate, her face and stance radiating a type of authority that wasn't usually there.

"Let's go," she said.

Bane nodded and walked out the door with Pyra following closely behind. Lumiere and Vyra exchanged a look before both of them looked at her again.

Lumiere breathed a laugh and said, "Mom is so badass."

"Yeah… she is," Vyra agreed.

The two glanced at each other again before running to catch up to Bane and Pyra, who were already in the streets and walking towards the closest wall. They seemed to be conversing about something as soldiers ran about, scrambling to get to the wall, so Lumiere and Vyra hung behind so as to give them a little respectful privacy. That didn't keep them from wondering, though.

"So… what do you think they're talking about?" Lumiere asked Vyra.

Vyra shrugged and said, "Beats me; they could be talking about anything."

Lumiere nodded before asking, "I'm guessing everything's _not_ alright?"

Vyra shook her head. "No way; Mom never panics this much unless the situation is, or is about to get, really ugly."

Lumiere nodded as the two continued on their path, noting how the soldiers all looked pretty frantic. "What's got them so shaken up?" he asked Vyra.

Vyra shook her head. "I have no clue; usually, soldiers in the Warfang Regime are parts of an organized, well-oiled machine, but this… this is just a mess," she said. "Normally, they would be marching in two rows of four, but this is just hectic."

"Do you think it's the grublins?" Lumiere asked.

Vyra took a second to think before saying, "It might be, but I heard they weren't even this panicked during the siege on Warfang four years ago."

Lumiere hummed for a moment and was about to say something before Pyra screamed from ahead, "Lumiere, duck!"

Lumiere furrowed his brow in confusion but did as he was told, dipping his head down towards the ground as he felt something whoosh in the air above him. When it passed and he looked up again, he was greeted by a small creature that appeared to be made of only rocks with glowing orange eyes and a crude sword in hand, one that would've taken his head off had Pyra not warned him about what was coming. Before anyone could say or do anything else, the creature screeched and charged Lumiere, who tried to kill it with his Electric-Fire breath, but the creature was faster and was able to knock Lumiere off his feet and swing down his sword. Lumiere rolled to the side and tripped the creature with his tail, afterwards bringing his tail back around and stabbing the thing through the chest. As he did so, the creature crumbled into dozens of tiny rocks before their eyes.

"Lumi!" Vyra cried as she rushed forward, having been pushed away when the creature charged.

Lumiere stood up and said, "I'm fine." He looked over the pile of pebbles as Vyra reached him and wondered aloud, "What was that thing?"

"Grublin," Bane answered, taking up a defensive position. "Be on your guard; if this one got through, there will certainly be more…"

Pyra did the same as Bane, as did Vyra and Lumiere a second later, Pyra hissing to Bane, "You didn't tell me there were any in the city!"

Bane kept walking and said, "I tried! You didn't listen!"

Pyra was about to say something before another grublin jumped out at them from an alleyway, which was more quickly dispatched by a blast of Electricity from Vyra. Only a second later, another one tried to charge Pyra, but was blown apart by Bane's Shadow breath. They got a few seconds of peace and managed a few yards before another one jumped off a roof with its sword pointed downwards straight towards Lumiere. The white male attempted to hit it with another blast of Electric-Fire, but he missed and the grublin managed to get a few more feet before getting rattled by Vyra's Electric breath before it smashed against the hard ground.

"Thanks!" he yelled at her, only getting a nod in response from her.

"Fall back!" Pyra cried to the other three.

They turned around and got ready to make a mad dash, but were blocked by a whole squadron of grublins charging them. They were taken by surprise for a second before they started to fire their respective elements at the creatures' ranks, taking them down in only a few seconds, allowing them to make a run for it. They all broke into sprints, though Bane and Pyra went slower for Vyra and Lumiere, the occasional grublin jumping out at them and being killed just as quickly. As time went on, though they found more and more of the stone creatures trying to jump out at them, and they were finding it increasingly difficult to hold them off.

"Make for the Temple!" Bane cried, knowing it was the most secure place in the city that would still be accessible.

He and Pyra took off running in the direction of the Temple just as Lumiere and Vyra both killed a grublin each, getting ready to do the same, but being blocked by a grublin that jumped in between them and Bane and Pyra, separating them.

"Lumiere! Vyra!" the Fire Guardian cried, trying to rush for them but being blocked by another wave of grublins trying to charge her.

Lumiere and Vyra tried their best to fight off the grublins, but they were quickly losing ground, the stone creatures getting closer and closer before Lumiere spotted an escape route; an old alleyway that had looked safe seemed to be the only way out of their predicament.

"Vyra!" he cried before killing a grublin. "Down there!" He gestured to the alleyway and glanced at Vyra to make sure the female understood, catching a nod before he was forced to focus on the grublins again. Lumiere saw Vyra leap over him before bounding down the alleyway away from him, doing the same thing himself just a moment later, easily keeping up with her and leaving the grublins in the dust. They ran for a few seconds down the alleyway before deeming it safe to stop, no longer hearing the unearthly shrieks of the grublin. They both slid to a stop, both of them slightly panting from the adrenaline pumping through their system.

"That was a close one," Lumiere remarked.

"Yeah," Vyra agreed. "Pretty close."

They both straightened and began to jog at a slower pace, no doubt leaving the grublins even further behind. They jogged like that for a couple minutes before Lumiere realized something.

"Hey, why don't we just fly?" he asked, stopping and flashing his wings.

Vyra stopped as well and looked at him. "We can't; remember that grublin that jumped down from the roof? They could just jump on us from there while we're flying up."

Lumiere looked at her for a few moments before shrugging. "Fair point," he admitted.

With that, they both continued throughout the city, eventually coming to a little plaza of sorts, taking the opportunity to relax a bit, not at all hearing the grublins down any of the three other paths that led out of the small courtyard surrounded by stores. For some reason, Lumiere got a weird sense of déjà vu, feeling as if he had been there before; he didn't know what it was, but something about the courtyard just seemed so… familiar. He stared at a single store next to the pathway to their left and stood in front of it, sitting down and trying to remember harder than ever now.

Vyra, not noticing how he was acting, stood at the path opposite to where they came in from and said, "You ready?" When she didn't receive an answer, she looked back and saw Lumiere standing there with a longing expression on his face. "What?"

"I… feel like I've been here before…" he said quietly.

Vyra perked up and padded over to him. "Why do you say that?" she asked.

Lumiere shook his head and whispered, "I don't know… I just feel like I've seen this place before…."

Vyra sat down by his side and put a comforting wing on his back. Lumiere looked at her for a brief moment before casting his gaze to the ground, his expression solemn. For a moment they sat there in silence, Lumiere not wanting to say anything and Vyra not knowing what _to_ say.

"Hey," she said after a moment, making Lumiere look at her again. She nuzzled him gently and said, "Whoever you were, whatever you did before… that's not you now. You're Lumiere; Jinx's boyfriend, Spyro's friend… my brother."

Lumiere nodded and was about to say something back before a screech from behind alerted them to an enemy behind them. They both turned around and saw a grublin take a swing with its sword, and they both closed their eyes and braced for the pain, knowing it was too late to do anything. Instead, the sound of rocks crumbling and a grunt of exertion made them open their eyes, only to see Cynder standing there, panting heavily with a pile of rocks at her feet that was the grublin who was about to kill them.

"I ran… all the way from the Academy… to get to you guys," she explained in between gulping breaths without them even asking.

Vyra and Lumiere looked at each other confusedly before looking back at her. "We didn't ask," Vyra said.

Cynder rolled her eyes and said, "Well you were probably… thinking it… Ancestors…" She stood back for a bit and bent over to catch her breath.

Lumiere walked forward and helped her keep upright, as it was clear she was on the verge of collapsing, and said, "Hey, take it easy."

Cynder gave him a grateful look as Vyra also stepped forward and helped the black-scaled female support her weight. They walked her over to the center of the plaza, where there were a few benches, and set her down on one of the stone seats before sitting down on either side of her as Cynder caught her breath. As they sat, they heard the sound of wings flapping, and afterwards saw both Jinx and Votia land and rush over to Lumiere and Vyra, wrapping their respective mates in hugs.

"Lumi!" Jinx cried.

Lumiere hugged her back as his level of confusion increased. "Wait… how did you guys get out of the school?" he asked.

Jinx and Voltia both gave him a deadpan look as Voltia said, "We snuck out. How else?"

Lumiere stared at them both for a few seconds. "Why?"

Jinx sighed and pecked his cheek. "'Cause it was the end of the day, and we were getting bored with getting held at the school after hours."

Lumiere nodded and kissed her gently as the sound of grublins came from the pathway he and Vyra had just come from. He looked towards it and got up, as did everyone else, and turned to see the two pathways to their left and right being blocked off by grublins. A split second later, a loud whistling sound came from the air and filled the courtyard, before a loud explosion sounded from their left and threw Lumiere and Voltia to the ground, since they were the closest to the blast. Slowly, the two got up and looked at the others, before Lumiere took off running into the only open pathway, the others following close behind. Lumiere looked back once and saw, along with his friends and girlfriend, the courtyard on fire with a gaping hole in the front of one of the stores.

After a few minutes of running, the group of five came to a little pathway that overlooked a larger courtyard, which was overwhelmed by grublins, who were cutting down soldiers by the dozens because of their sheer numbers. Lumiere stared in a horrified awe at the scene as dragons, cheetahs, and moles alike were killed by the rock creatures, and he could now see that they came in different sizes.

Vyra walked up beside him and watched as the carnage unfolded, whispering, "Ancestors…."

"We have to help them," Lumiere said.

His friends immediately turned to him with perplexed expressions. "How do you suggest we do that without getting killed?" Voltia asked.

"Don't you wanna help them?" Lumiere asked.

"Of course I do!" Voltia replied. "But I also wanna live!"

Lumiere cursed under his breath and turned back to the scene as it unfolded, scanning it and trying to figure out the best way to help the soldiers without getting killed themselves. He looked from left to right, but the sheer numbers of the grublins alone was enough to discourage him from finding a solution, and he was just about to give up and continue running.

"Watch out!"

Lumiere turned to the left suddenly to see a horde of grublins rushing towards him at a blinding speed, only the stone creatures were more varied in size than before. He turned to the right to bolt down the path before another surge of grublins coming from that way stopped him in his tracks, and by now they could hear the grublins from before coming from the alleyway, so there was no way they could get back there. They were trapped. They had no choice but to jump into battle guns blazing; he only hoped it didn't get them killed right then and there.

"Jump!" he shouted.

Without waiting for a confirmation from anyone, he jumped down from the pathway into the carnage with a fierce growl, releasing a stream of his elements and taking down a few grublins to make a wide circle where he could land. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was almost shanked by a grublin but was thankfully able to move out the way and stab the creature with his tail, making it crumble before his eyes. He was about to relax and turn around when another grublin rushed him, forcing him to roll to the side, almost getting stabbed by a third grublin. He got up and released two short bursts of Electric-Fire with the intention of hitting both grublins, but instead both shots flew in completely separate directions, and he tripped over the remains of what used to be a grublin, falling to the ground. Immediately, several grublins rushed over to kill him, and right then was when he realized two fatal disadvantages the Regime had: one was that they were tripping over their enemies' remains, and another was that the individual soldiers weren't quick enough to defend against a whole squadron of grublins rushing them at once. But Lumiere realized this too late; he lay on the ground defenseless as a whole unit of stone creatures rushed him. This was his end.

"Lumi!"

Lumiere looked to see Vyra jump down to his position and let out a stream of Electricity onto the grublins rushing him, Cynder doing the same with her Shadow element, killing all the grublins around him and making those behind stagger backwards. They both landed around Lumiere as he was able to stand up, Jinx and Voltia following Vyra and Cynder only a second after and taking down grublins of their own.

"Thanks!" he shouted to them.

He got scattered acknowledgements in reply before they formed a tight ring, all of them standing back to back and letting out streams of their respective elements into the army of grublins.

"Y'know, you really need to practice with your elements more!" Vyra pointed out to Lumiere before getting back to electrocuting grublins like it was nothing.

Lumiere shot a short burst of his elements again and was about to disagree with her, but when he saw his ball of Electric-Fire hit a grublin way past the one he intended it for, he sighed and said, "Fine! But I'll need help with it, and I don't know how preoccupied the Guardians are with this mess!" He paused for a minute to slash at a grublin with his claws before continuing. "Who knows how busy they are?! They might not have the time!"

"That's what _I'm_ here for!" Vyra yelled out him. "I could help you practice!" She too had to drop the conversation for a second to kill a grublin. "I've had some pretty serious training; after all, my Mom's the Head Guardian!"

"You guys might wanna focus on the task at hand!" Jinx pointed out, turning around and slashing a grublin in two with her tail.

Lumiere agreed with a hum and breathed a long stream of his elements onto the grublins as they rushed forward, Vyra doing the same.

After a few minutes of doing this nonstop, Voltia piped up with, "How're we doing?!"

Lumiere was about to respond positively before realizing he hadn't seen a trace of any Regime soldiers in quite some time, not even a body or a piece of equipment dropped. They bolted. He swore loudly at this realization and looked around frantically to disprove himself, but saw that he was right.

"They retreated!" he yelled.

Vyra cursed and said, "Get close to me!"

With that, she jumped up into the air a good few feet, flapping her wings to get just a little more altitude, before Electricity started to bounce off of her scales and wings. It took everyone else a few seconds to realize what was happening, but once they did, they put everything they had into their efforts to push the grublins back as Vyra started to glow slightly, the air crackling with Electricity. After a few seconds, they managed to clear a eight-foot circle around them and got close to Vyra as she opened her eyes and unleashed a Fury, frying every grublin within a twenty foot radius and clearing a wide area of the field, except for a little area where Voltia had managed to conjure up a shield of Electricity to protect the rest of the dragons from Vyra's powerful fury.

For a few seconds, everything was quiet; the grublins stood still and stared at the group of five dragons, Vyra having now descended to the ground, and said group of dragons staring back at them, waiting for them to do something. The tension was able to be cut with a knife, each group waiting for the other to do something, no one moving. Then, a shrill roar sounded from the crowd, and just like that, the grublins charged them all, letting out the same roar. The five dragons knew they wouldn't be able to hold off for long, especially against the whole crowd rushing them at once in an almost organized way, but they still readied their respective elements when Lumiere remembered his most valuable weapon at the moment.

"Repello!" he yelled, focusing his energy on every living being in the vicinity besides his friends and girlfriend.

Instantly, every grublin was sent flying back, and they were finally left with some room to breathe. For second, the other four looked at Lumiere with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you use that before?" Jinx asked, now smiling a bit.

Lumiere shrugged. "Slipped my mind."

Jinx laughed and shook her head as she readied her Fear element, the others following her example as Lumiere readied another word on his lips. Slowly, the grublins regained composure and charged them one by one, allowing them to take care of them easier. Along the way, Vyra gave Lumiere small tips on how to better aim with his elements, and his shots became progressively more consistent in terms of accuracy. Eventually, the horde regained some of its former mass, and they would've been overwhelmed had Lumiere not repeated the same spell from before, making the grublins go flying back again and starting the process over. From there, they made steady progress, killing grublin after grublin for a few minutes until their mana ran out, at which point they ran into the dwindling ranks of the grublins and cut them down with their claws, teeth, and tails, Lumiere occasionally using the repelling spell if he or anyone else needed it, until there were no more grublins left in the large area, which was now littered with rocks and pebbles. After they made sure every grublin in the area had been killed, they regathered near the exit.

"Did we actually just do that…?" Voltia asked.

"What's it look like?" Vyra said with a smile, looking over the messy courtyard.

"I think we should get outta here before more show up," Lumiere said.

Everyone agreed, and with that, they ran out of the courtyard and down the street. They occasionally came across the stray grublin here and there, but it wasn't anything too troublesome. They continued like this for a few minutes until they came to the front of the Temple, which looked like it had taken a hell of a beating on the outside; parts of the corners of some walls were chipped, and the walls themselves were cracked in some places. They continued along the Temple, going around it like Lumiere usually did while walking to and from the Temple, until they came across his block. Fortunately, the damage didn't look too bad from the outside, but before they could investigate more, the door to the balcony opened up and revealed Pyra, Bane, and Volteer.

"Mom!" Vyra and Lumiere cried, running up to her.

"Vyra! Lumiere!" Pyra exclaimed, reaching down and nuzzling them as they reached her.

Bane looked over Lumiere's little group and remarked, "Seems you had quite a run-in with the grublins."

Lumiere furrowed his brow in confusion before looking at himself and realizing he was covered in a thin layer of dust from the rocks that made up the grublins.

Pyra looked over him and Vyra and, finding the same thing, harrumphed and said, "I think it would fit both of you to go and take a bath, now."

"Mom, we're eighteen," Vyra pointed out with a smile. "We don't take baths anymore."

Pyra shook her head but smiled and said, "Bath, shower… whatever you call it! Just clean yourselves off, and we can go from there."

"I call the bathroom upstairs!" Lumiere said before taking off towards their house.

"Hey, no fair!" Vyra called after him, chasing him down the street as the others laughed and followed.

Lumiere reached the door first and threw it open with a smile, but upon finding what was inside, his face fell. Vyra reached the door after him and reacted similarly.

Pyra padded up to them and asked, "What's wrong?" In response, the two only gestured to the inside of the house. Pyra looked and gasped, tears filling her eyes as she saw the inside.

 _M_


	34. Shambles

_M_

The couches had been flipped over and torn apart, the kitchen ransacked and silverware littering the floor… at least, what was left of it. Their possessions and pictures lay scattered and broken, mangled like they meant nothing, food and drinks from the kitchen smeared all over the walls, which were cracked and, in some places, had chunks taken out of it. Down the hall next to the staircase, there were toiletries and liquids of all kinds spilled across the floor and tracked all throughout the house. None of them could believe it, and in his skepticism, Lumiere bolted into the house and up the stairs, trying to find some part of the house that was untouched. Unfortunately, his worst fears were proven to be true as he padded down the hallway. All five doors were thrown open, two of them looking as if they were ready to fall off their hinges, their combined belongings scattered and ruined along with even more toiletries from the bathroom. He looked into his own room and found the mattress ruined, the blankets torn apart. His dresser had been smashed into mere pieces of white wood, and his closet doors had been thrown open, everything in the tiny closet having been strewn across the floor, jewels ripped from their sockets and smashed, and necklaces torn into pieces, unsalvageable, just like everything else in the house.

Tears filled Lumiere's eyes as he walked into his room, dazed with utter shock and horror as he looked at what was once his. In his addled state, he heard Vyra enter her own room and let out several loud sobs, her room clearly being in a similar state to Lumiere's. Lumiere sighed and let his head sag, his wings and tail drooping as he turned around and walked back out of his demolished room, back out onto the street where many other citizens were crying at their lost belongings, the grublins no doubt having ransacked their homes, as others gathered around and looked on in horror, sadness, pity, and a flurry of other emotions, though there was one that sparked deep within Lumiere, and despite it being small, it was there among all the other repressed emotions.

Rage.

He was angry, furious at the grublins for taking away the only home he had ever known, and even more so when he took into consideration Pyra and Vyra. He was now just processing the heartbreaking sob his foster sister let out when she saw the state of her room, and he found himself satisfied that they managed to kill so many of them, maybe even all of them. He'd never been satisfied before at the thought of his enemies dying.

"Lumiere…?"

Lumiere looked up as Vyra crept out of the house with tears streaming down her face, and caught a quick glimpse of Pyra sitting in the living room on her haunches, her back turned to both of them. Vyra sniffled as she slowly padded out and sat next to Lumiere, the male's eyes following her every action, now even more pissed off at the sight of his crying sister. He'd never seen her like this before; usually she was strong, confident, and strode around town with her head held up high and a smile on her face. Now, though, she looked like a completely different dragoness, with her head bowed and a broken look in her eyes. Lumiere almost growled in anger at seeing her like this; he never wanted to see her like this. Fortunately for him, he was able to stifle it and instead faced forward.

"What do we do now?" he asked quietly.

Vyra shrugged dejectedly and sniffled again. "I-I'm not sure…"

Lumiere sighed and put a wing over her back in comfort, and Vyra leaned into him, letting the dam go and sobbing quietly into his chest. Lumiere said no words and only allowed her to sob into his chest, the top of her head rubbing against his chin, a numb, stoic expression on his face.

Just then Volteer came running down the street and looked at Lumiere and Vyra with a worried expression, asking them frantically, "Where's Pyra?!"

Lumiere sighed and jerked his head in the direction of their destroyed home. Volteer's jaw dropped at the state of their house, but he said nothing as he slowly and carefully padded in. Lumiere saw him wrap a wing around Pyra in comfort, but turned away before he could see anything else, looking up to see Jinx, Cynder, and Voltia padding up to him, Bane close behind all of them but not approaching.

Lumiere only looked at them with a sad expression as Jinx stared in shock at the house behind them, then to Lumiere and Vyra, the latter of whom turned her head away from them all in shame as a light pink dusted her cheeks at being caught in such a state. Voltia only surged forward and hugged her, Lumiere removing his wing so that she could do so. Jinx gave Lumiere a sad expression as well and moved forward, rubbing the top of her head under his jaw in comfort. Lumiere sighed and gave her a quiet growl of appreciation, wrapping his wings around her and nuzzling her.

After a few minutes of Jinx's tender comfort, Volteer came out of the house with his wing draped over Pyra, who had long tear streaks running down her face, her eyes downcast. For a minute, everyone was oblivious to the two, but as time went on, the streets quieted and everyone's eyes turned to the two Guardians, some of them wondering what to make of Pyra crying, and others casting gazes at Volteer's wing over her back. Everything was dead silent in the streets as people turned, stopped, and stared at them.

Thankfully, a voice spoke up and said, "Alright, everyone, back to your business!"

Then, just like that, everything began moving again; dragons shuffled and rummaged, sobbed and sniffled, and even roared their loss to the sky. Pyra, Volteer, Lumiere, Jinx, and Vyra all looked up to see Bane standing there with an understanding look.

"Thanks, Daddy…" Jinx said.

Bane nodded and looked at Lumiere. "I'm sorry to do this so soon after your loss, but we really should get going… I have some matters to attend to, and Jinx must come with…."

"But Dad!" Jinx cried.

"No…" Lumiere spoke quietly. "You should go with him… I'll be fine…."

Jinx looked up at him in surprise, but Lumiere only smiled softly. "Are you sure?" the crimson dragoness asked.

Lumiere nodded. "Go…."

Jinx looked hesitant, but as Lumiere dropped his wings and folded them up to his back again, Jinx, sighed and pressed her lips to his briefly before pulling away and padding slowly to her father, who stood there with a sad look. All he did was nod once to Lumiere, who nodded in return, before he turned away to walk alongside his daughter. Jinx looked back and cast him an uncertain gaze, her eyes filled with worry. Lumiere only smiled again to hopefully reassure her, and Jinx turned her head again and walked away without looking back again. After she was out of sight, Lumiere let his smile drop as his shoulders sagged, but snapped his head up and stood at attention when he felt someone else put their wing around him. He wondered for a second who it was until the voice of Cynder spoke softly.

"I… I'm sorry, Lumi… I really am…" she whispered.

Lumiere just sighed again and nodded, acknowledging that he'd heard her. "Thanks."

Cynder nodded before pulling her wing away. "You gonna be okay?" she asked.

Lumiere nodded and turned to her, giving her a light smile like he did Jinx. "Yeah… I'll be fine."

Cynder nodded, but there wasn't a sign that she was leaving, so Lumiere just stood around and looked away before Volteer asked, "Why don't you three follow me?" Pyra, Lumiere, and Vyra all looked at him, and the Lightning Guardian continued with, "I have extra room, and the house seems empty without the company of others…."

"How many bedrooms?" Pyra asked him.

"Er… two," he replied. "Why?"

Pyra sighed and shook her head. "That's not enough… I want both of my children to sleep in their own room, for the sake of their privacy."

Lumiere sighed at this; he knew it was something Pyra wouldn't accept, and he didn't want them to have to search for a place, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

"I'll leave for now, then…" he said.

Everyone snapped their gazes on them in that instant. "What?!" they all chorused.

"I'll have to find my own way…" Lumiere said. "I don't wanna have to be a drag, so I'll do what's easiest for you and leave for a bit."

"No, Lumiere, that's out of the question," Pyra argued, stepping out from under Volteer's wing.

Lumiere pressed his lips and sighed. "I… I shouldn't be holding you two back… I can handle my own."

"Lumi, you've been in this city for a month," Vyra pointed out. "You barely know the streets aside from our own… there's no way you'd be able to 'handle your own' out there."

Lumiere shook his head. "I'll make do…."

Just then Cynder piped up with, "I can take him in." Then, just like that, all eyes turned to her, and she shrunk under all their gazes with a light blush. "I-It's not that big of a deal… I have an extra mattress and enough money to sustain us both…."

Lumiere looked towards his foster mother and sister, as if asking their permission with his eyes.

At last, Pyra relented with a sigh and said, "Alright… if that's what you really want to do, I won't stop you… as long as you're safe and taken good care of." She looked at Cynder, and the black dragoness looked back, a conversation seemingly passing between them within only a few seconds until Pyra looked back to Lumiere and said, "I love you, Lumiere, like my own child…."

Lumiere nodded. "I know…" he assured her before padding forward and nuzzling her foreleg. Pyra only reached down with her neck and nuzzled him back, wrapping her wings around them protectively.

After a second, Pyra pulled away and exposed him again, her wings returning to their original position, and Vyra padded up to him with a sad expression.

"Take care, Lumi… okay?"

Lumiere allowed a ghost of a smile to grace his features before padding forward and hugging her. Vyra wasted no time with returning the embrace, and they held it for a few moments more before each of them pulled away and backed away from each other a bit.

"I will," he said to her.

Vyra returned his smile before slowly walking over to Pyra as Volteer did the same, draping his wing back over her as Vyra took a spot next to Pyra's forelimbs. Lumiere only gave them a sad smile and a reassuring nod before turning away, at which point the three others turned and started to walk away. Only when they turned their backs to him did he dare to look after them as they walked down the street and turned down another, leaving him and Cynder there standing in the streets.

"C'mon, Lumi…" Cynder said to him. "Let's get you back to my place."

Lumiere nodded, though he gazed at his old home with a longing glance, wondering if he, Pyra, and Vyra would ever call it home again. He drove those thoughts away, however, and turned to Cynder.

"Alright, I'm ready…."

 _M_

 **Again, thank you all for reading this far and following this story, and have a good day/night.**


	35. Para Bellum

**So... I'm back... kinda. I just couldn't leave this story unfinished; it bothered me that my biggest project to date, one whose mechanics I use on an almost daily basis, believe it or not, basically my child, was left unresolved. I plan on writing a few oneshots to close this up and tie up any loose ends this "ending" has, and if not, I think this will answer at least a few questions about what's to happen. If all goes well, I may have time to write a few explicit scenes and other short chapters in the aftermath of the end of the characters' journey, so if you're interested, leave a review on which scenes you might want. I'm not sure if my account will be very active after this and the oneshots I write, but my beta account will be open to anyone who needs help. Anyways, here is the last official chapter of "Tales to Astonish."**

 _M_

Kirk sighed as he stood overlooking the city on the Temple, a path of pebbles and rocks behind him, all of which used to be grublins. He had fought his way to the top through waves upon waves of grublins, leaving Dika in their 'temporary living space,' as the Guardians called it, which was merely a spare dorm room that happened to be unoccupied. It was fitted with larger beds to accommodate his and Dika's size, and it wasn't an overall bad living space. It just wasn't home. Kirk pursed his lips and looked over the smoking city of Warfang.

Would he and Dika ever have a place to call home?

He knew that the dragons would welcome him with open arms if they knew about his existence; after all, the Guardians were only all too quick to forgive him for what he did to Lumiere and his gang. But he felt like he didn't belong, and he knew Dika felt the same way. No matter how horrid life was in the nuclear-devastated San Francisco, it was the only life they had known before Mortus had ripped them from their world and kidnapped Dika, and it was a life they had longed to return to for the past three hundred years. It was where they belonged. Kirk didn't belong in this realm, and while he wasn't completely sure about Dika, he knew that she felt her place was with him, no matter where they were. Still, he felt awkward in this realm, living in a body that wasn't his in the first place. Of course, he'd had all the time in the world to get used to it, but sometimes he woke up in the morning expecting his limbs to be smaller, and fumbled and tripped over them when they were the same white, scaly limbs he had known for three centuries.

"Kirk," a voice called from behind.

Kirk turned around and was met with another white dragon much like him, only his wings were membranous instead of feathered like his. In addition, this dragon only had one set of horns that pointed up and back, and he lacked the Symbol of Chryosis on his brow. Nevertheless, Kirk knew exactly who it was the instant they met eyes.

"Ancestor Lucerus," he replied.

Lucerus chuckled and nodded. "Yes, it is me," he said.

Kirk smiled as well before looking away. "If you're here, that can't be a good sign…."

"No," Lucerus agreed. "The threat of Mortus still looms on the horizon after your failure to neutralize him in the Dark Catacombs. He must be stopped from carrying out his dark plans."

"And you're here to guide us?" Kirk asked with a sarcastic note, assuming that wasn't the case.

Again, Lucerus confirmed his suspicions. "I am not… However," Kirk turned back to him and perked up, "I am here to help in what capacity I can."

Kirk arched an eyebrow, his eyes urging the older dragon to go on.

"You know that powerful Celestial dragons with a direct connection to the Ancestors, such as yourself, are able to know the future without it changing. You are the last such dragon in the land of the living, and the Ancestors aren't overfond of communicating with the Chronicler. They're very busy."

"You mean direct connection as in…?" Kirk inquired.

"As in a parental connection," Lucerus replied.

Kirk knew exactly what he was talking about. "Millenius," he whispered. "My father…."

"Yes," Lucerus said. "He is the best of us, Kirk… he was one of the most powerful dragons in the world when he was alive, even when the wyverns were around. He is the reason why Ignitus was the most powerful Guardian in a long, long time."

Kirk nodded and started pacing. "He was Ignitus' teacher?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"And a teacher to many others," Lucerus added on. "Some have said he was the greatest dragon to exist, and as such, so are you at the moment."

Kirk stopped in his tracks and sighed. "I'm the only one able to handle what you're about to tell me…" he deduced.

"You are."

Kirk nodded. "Then let's start off simple… how does this all end?"

Lucerus padded up beside him. "I don't believe the outcome is as simple as you believe, Kirk…" he sighed.

"Then just tell me everything." Kirk turned around and walked over to the ledge he had been at previously, overlooking the city again, and in an instant Lucerus appeared at his side.

"There are many ways this could end… but the most probable outcomes all end in this universe collapsing into darkness by Mortus' doing. There are some, however, that depict you and your companions overcoming the abomination that is Mortus, but the majority of them end in the death of one, some, or all of you."

"And the other universes in this chain?" Kirk asked.

"You speak of the multiverse, which makes the outcome fuzzy; the interdimensional nature of it blurs any visions of it. That is why I cannot see exactly what happens, only glimpses of multiple endings to this journey. Mortus, as you may have guessed, fled to Adstrummors, or, as you have decided to call it, the Echo Nexus."

"The center of our universe chain," Kirk said. "If he destroys that, he'll plunge every single universe in the chain into darkness."

Lucerus nodded. "Yes, and I fear that's what he intends to do. Unfortunately, he has the resources to carry out such a task, as well as the forces."

"What does he intend to do with the latter?"

"Carry out one of the biggest invasions the Dragon Realms have ever seen," Lucerus responded.

"On Warfang…" Kirk whispered.

Lucerus nodded grimly. "Yes… but they can be stopped. Whether or not they will be stopped is a matter of how driven the forces of Warfang are."

"Well… this just means we can't take everyone with us to the Nexus, right?" Kirk guessed.

"Precisely."

Kirk nodded. "So who's getting left behind?"

"Toxia, Voltia, Ember, and Winter are the four dragonesses that will remain here. The oddity of a purple dragon, Spyro, is the most valuable playing card getting left behind, for both sides."

Kirk looked at Lucerus. "How do you figure?"

"Well," the old dragon started, "Mortus has the ability to project his will on others, like Vyra when she was abusing Lumiere. However, there is still a fragment of Mortus' dark influence in Spyro's body."

Kirk's jaw dropped. "His dark side…" he mumbled.

"Yes… much lies on the young one's ability to resist the power of Mortus… but I fear without his mate he may be a lost cause."

"How does Cynder leave him off? On a bad note?"

Lucerus only nodded.

Kirk grunted. "Great… and we can't even warn him, 'cause if we do, everything goes to shit, and what you told me would've been for nothing." Kirk sat silently for a moment before looking over at Lucerus again. "Why're you even telling me this anyways?"

Lucerus met his gaze and said, "What did you tell young Jinx in the Catacombs?"

Kirk's mind returned to him telling the crimson dragoness that not everything good had to be done for a reason, and suddenly he understood.

Without a moment's respite, however, Lucerus continued: "As for the company destined to travel across dimensions, their outcome is the most fuzzy. I've seen young Lumiere, along with the rest of his company, die over and over again, in many horrible, horrible ways. But there is hope that the Light will prevail."

"I have a feeling that Light doesn't mean Lumiere," Kirk remarked.

"I've seen futures that show him to be the one to defeat Mortus, and ones where others are the key to his defeat. The one that stands out to me, however, show Lumiere to be merely the Guide."

"Cyclone's the Light…" Kirk said.

"The young male hasn't had much involvement in this story, but I've seen him to be the one to defeat Mortus while you, Lumiere, and Ferlost keep him at bay. However," Lucerus sighed, "that future is the only one of its kind… and it ends with the young Wind dragon's demise…."

Kirk sighed as well. "Of course… someone always has to die…."

Lucerus continued still. "With his sacrifice comes the fall of the Dark Master, but there is another who cannot live without him…. She is taken shortly after this all ends… by her own grief and claw."

Kirk grimaced, feeling a bit sick to his stomach.

"Many will feel their death… if that is the path to be taken by these younglings. If it is, Mortus as we know him will be destroyed, and, while his essence will be preserved, I see you and Lumiere working day and night for weeks to cleanse it of darkness. He shares your work ethic, and with good reason."

Kirk smiled slightly, the sick feeling disappearing. "I meant to tell him… I really did, Lucerus. He deserves to know who his old man really is."

"And yet you will stall until you can no longer. You will eventually tell him, I see it. But he isn't your only child, is he?" Lucerus gave Kirk a knowing smile.

"A little girl… the exact opposite of him."

"One Light, one Shadow."

Kirk nodded. "I'll tell her too… when the time comes."

"If the time comes," Lucerus reminded him. "I don't mean to destroy your morale, but you'd do best to remember that with multiple outcomes, anything can happen; the death of one, or both, of your children, possibly even you yourself."

Kirk nodded again grimly, now wanting to change the subject. "What about the wyvern?"

"He's on his own path now, one that could possibly change everything we know about that past. I only see his death in a small handful of the realities where Mortus is defeated, and an even smaller amount depict him even joining the battle."

"And the Guardians?"

"All of them remain here, however I see many outcomes that end in at least one of their deaths; Volteer especially appears in an alarming number of these outcomes."

"So clearly not everything's butterflies and rainbows?" Kirk growled sarcastically.

Lucerus ignored him and went on. "However, the ones that survive will ascend to the position of Elder, something that hasn't happened in three hundred years, and new Guardians will be selected; both events are prestigious and will be celebrated with smiles and applause, so, if you survive, remember to at least polish your scales."

Kirk chuckled and looked at Lucerus. "C'mon, I'm not that undignified… right?" Lucerus only grinned and turned away, continuing with his augury.

"We shall see, should you make it out of this alive."

Kirk turned somber. "With all the alluding to my untimely demise, something tells me I'm not gonna make it out of this…."

Lucerus shook his head. "I've said this before, I cannot see whether you live or die… but if you die, it will certainly be by Mortus' own foul hand."

Kirk growled. "I'll be damned before I let him kill me… I wouldn't let it happen. If I have to make a deal with the Devil himself, I'll see him dead before I'm laid into the ground."

"Mortus may as well be the Devil," Lucerus pointed out.

Kirk nodded. "Fair enough…" he said. "So what's our best course of action?"

Kirk waited for a response from the old Ancestor, but when he turned to where the white dragon was previously, he saw no one, not even so much as a scent to point that there was just a dragon there. Kirk sighed and turned back to watch over the city, admiring it. The fact that it was smoking did nothing to curb his appreciation of Warfang; if anything, it made the city more majestic, as if to tell the world the recent grublin attack had almost no effect on it, and that it was still standing strong.

Kirk smiled, and for the first time in almost three hundred years, it was a true smile. Not one he forced for Dika's sake, not one he forced for his own sake… it was a real smile, because it was a smile he could wear confidently. He knew that, whatever was thrown their way, that they would overcome it no matter the odds, that they would defeat darkness again, and that they would save a vast multitude of universes, more lives than he could ever hope to comprehend.

So as the sun set on Warfang, he smiled and puffed his chest out, knowing that the sun would still be there to wake him in the morning, and that it would be for years to come. Eventually, the sun would rise so many times, that the details of his journey with Dika, Lumiere, and the others would long since be forgotten, their names would become legends, and the events of his story would be nothing more than tales to astonish.

 _M_

 **Thank you all so much for reading, and have a good day/night.**


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